Chapter 14

After thinking on her question, I replied, “Either of them would do, though the spears would do well to damage the dragon’s wings.”

She nodded and concentrated for a moment, before chanting again in her language. This time, two balls of flame appeared, but instead of the golden flames of the last set, these were blue and gave off a frosty discharge. The inside also looked different; while fireballs seemed to have a somewhat solid core, the ice balls seemed to be liquid in nature. With the slightest gesture, she launched the balls of icy flame at the drake and it screamed in pain as the balls impacted the scales on its belly. Instead of flames like last time, they hit almost like a snowball and spread a liquid that splattered onto the scales. With a quick look at my map to check the health of the drake, the attack removed almost two thirds of the creature’s health and it looked like it was still doing damage over time. As I looked closer at the point of impact of the balls, I realized that the balls, and especially the impact splatter.

It reminded me of liquid nitrogen and how it reacted to items it came into contact with. The belly scales looked like they were becoming brittle and might shatter if hit with the right amount of force. Entivala chanted again and, this time, two spears of ice appeared like icy javelins nearly a meter long and incredibly sharp on both ends. She gestured towards the drake, sending them flying at it, and they struck the brittle scales with over half of one of the icy spikes sinking into the beast’s chest. Pieces of scale went flying in all directions as the scales shattered like glass from the force of her attack. It was no wonder the meter-long spike was able to imbed itself so easy in the chest of the drake, possibly piercing the creature’s heart. The last of its health was lost in the attack and the drake burst in a cloud of smoke. In its wake, was a medium bright orb, some scales and a piece of hide.

“Amazing job, Enti! Your spells were impressive, as was your ability to adapt them on the fly to my suggestions. Thanks to experimenting with your ice manipulation abilities, we learned a way to possibly penetrate the dragon’s hide, which will prove very useful. This gives you an offensive ice ball attack, as well as an ice javelin attack. I do have one question, though. Is there any way we can speed up your casting so that it is more instantaneous, as it does leave you slightly vulnerable?”

“Not right now, no,” she replied with a shake of the head. “That is a skill that I will be able to use at level three.”

“Okay, that is fine. Your ice ball attack followed by your ice javelin attack should prove quite useful against the hide of the dragon. I was surprised, as the first attack reminded me of something from my world that proves quite useful ... and dangerous. On my world we have a chemical called liquid nitrogen, it can freeze anything small it comes into contact with almost instantly, while larger objects need time. If poured onto a human hand it could freeze it entirely in only a few minutes and if the frozen hand is struck hard enough, it would shatter like glass. Your balls had a similar effect on the drake’s scales, making them more susceptible to physical damage, hence they shattered from the ice javelin. The javelin would also tear its wings if enough force is applied when fired at the creature, ensuring that we could ground it.

“They would easily pierce the membrane, and, with enough tears, the creature would not be able to take off the ground. We could do the same if we damage the shoulder or bicep muscles of the wing. Once the beast is unable to fly, we are going to need to try and limit how much fire it can produce. I have some fire resistance on my gear, so I will ensure that I try to draw as much as I can. Amenthia is also protected a bit so that will help, but if we can prevent it from breathing fire, that would help us last a bit longer. Once it is grounded, Enti, you will need to then concentrate on piercing its heart. If we are lucky, a critical strike there will end the beast.

“We want to end this fight as quickly as possible, because the longer it lasts, the greater the chance that the dragon will turn the tables on us. It has not survived this long unless it was crafty and able to think on its feet. Waiting until after those two attacks will also help as we can see how the attacks damage its health and how the creature reacts to a combined attack. Enti, do you have any fire protection on your clothes?”

Enti rummaged around her bag until she brought out two bundles of material wrapped in twine that resembled what she had been wearing the night before. The one she had worn was a deep forest green; one of the bundles was a royal blue colour and the last was a pearl color.

“Yes, I do, “she replied. “I used the last of my gold to get enchantments on my clothing, as well as for the cloak you saw me wearing last night. In fact, I got these two cloaks for Amenthia and you. Both have seventy five percent flame reduction, and twenty percent flame absorption, meaning only five percent of the damage will get through. They are made of a flame-retardant silk, so we would never worry about the fire consuming the cloak or cape even if the durability reaches zero. Given the level disparity between us and the dragon, this will allow us to last much longer against it. The blue one is for Amenthia, and the white one’s for you, Pathios.”

Amenthia and I both looked at her in surprise at the gifts she brought, and she stood there with a deep blush as we stepped forward and took our respective garbs. I couldn’t help but admire the intricate design of the cloak and it took my breath away. I threw it over my shoulders and clasped it on, marveling on how lightweight it was. It went to my legs and spanned wide enough I could wrap myself in it, if necessary, plus the hood would also prove essential. The edge was trimmed with a golden pattern and the chain and clasps were gold as well. Both girls donned theirs, and the colors suited them both, matching their respective eye color. Amenthia placed her hand on Enti’s shoulder drawing attention to her beautiful friend.

“Enti, does this provide any insulation from the cold? While we may not need that kind of protection now, I do know that some floors are in permanent winter seasons.”

“From what the maker told me, yes,” she replied. “It should be useful in that case, as it considers the ambient temperature of a floor. In a much colder environment, the threads that make the cloak adjust to be far denser, thus providing needed protection from the elements. It has something to do with the type of thread, I believe, but I forgot the name of the thread the Ptah weaver told me.”

“Oh! Well Ptah weavers are some of the best,” Amenthia uttered in awe. “Given their affinity for working with various cloths and silks, it’s no wonder it used up all of your gold. These are far too extravagant to be gifts, Enti, but I will cherish it, as I know Pathios will.”

“I agree with Amenthia, these gifts were not necessary, but I will accept them in the spirit in which you gave them, Enti. Thank you, and as a token of my appreciation, you will get a third of our gold to offset the cost of these.”

Now it was Enti’s turn to stare in disbelief, but Amenthia had a smile on her face and a look of pride on her face.

“Thank you, Pathios, but that will not be necessary,” she replied, blushing red. “Tyr had my account merged with yours before I came out here. I know you recently did so with Amenthia, and he felt that it would just make things simpler, rather than having to split the rewards all the time.”

“That will make things simpler,” I said as I mulled over the information. “Well, at present we have just under thirty-six thousand, five hundred gold-worth of orbs. That doesn’t include the drops we have collected that could be sold. Of course, we will be getting more before we reach the dragon, and who knows what would drop from the dragon itself.”

Enti’s eyes widened, but it was no surprise. We knew that we were getting far better returns than others were. Our unique fighting style had allowed us to start dispatching large groups of enemies while limiting the damage we sustained. Amenthia even seemed to find my idea of grinding fun, as it had allowed us to refine our teamwork the more we fought, along with gaining grades in our various stats. I would have liked to have had some more time to refine the teamwork of our new group dynamic. But waiting too long could force us to wait too long before a chance like this would come again.

With our new cloaks donned, we continued along our planned route to the vantage point. We discussed different methods to try with each mob as we made our way, in hopes of coming up with different ways to try and achieve the same result. By the time we had gotten to the vantage point, we all felt that we had a grasp on how to work together as a cohesive unit. While further time spent together would allow our attacks to become more seamless, for now, it would serve us well in our fight with the dragon.

Once we were sure that the area around the vantage point was clear, we settled in for our wait. There was still an hour before the pair we had overheard would arrive and since Enti had the highest awareness stat, she climbed a tree to see what was going on clearly. We climbed our own trees just to see what the beast looked like while waiting for nearby mobs to respawn and take notice of us.

The dragon had to be at least eight feet tall, forty feet long and I wasn’t even going to guess at its wingspan. It had dark, charcoal coloured scales along its body with a more gun metal grey color along its underbelly and the membrane of the wings seemed to be somewhere between the two. It had horns on its nose, small ones across its brow and five at the back of the skull, forming a crown. its tail had no club or point, nothing that would add to its lethality. From her vantage point, Enti could see the battle unfold, as well as be just within range of the dragon. As long as it did not move out of range, she should be able to track the health loss and regeneration. We wondered how long we would have to wait, when a deafening roar filled the air, signaling the start of their battle.

Our attention immediately went to the sound of the roar, and we could see that two fighters were closing distance to the creature. Based on the equipment they were using, one looked to be a warrior who was charging it with a halberd or pike, but at this distance it was hard to make out for sure. The other was carrying a crossbow but had a sword on his hip and he was firing at the dragon. The problem was he was not aiming at the right places, happy to hit its belly for minimal damage, rather than the wing, eye or its mouth when it was open. Those areas were all soft tissue which would have yielded to the crossbow’s ammunition. Given that the other fighter was swinging at the dragon, as well as thrusting, he had to have been using a halberd. A glance at the health of the dragon showed some decrease, but it would take a long while for them to defeat it. If they got lucky, they might actually get its health down by a quarter, but that was not looking likely.

The dragon, however, was not taking this attack lying down. It was swiping at them with its sharp talons and using its tail to try and knock them over. Its movements were intelligent, and it looked like it was learning while they fought. Its actions only proved my belief that a prolonged encounter would lead to our eventual defeat. During a swing of its tail it caught the warrior with the tip of it, causing him to fall to the ground. As it went to attack, his companion got lucky, and shot a bolt into the creatures left eye. It cried out in pain, giving the warrior time to escape from the beast’s clutches. Using the moment, the warrior drew something from his belt, throwing it at the beast. It exploded on impact, covering the dragon’s chest scales in a green, viscous substance. This only served to anger the dragon and it arched back to prepare a torrent of fire upon the two attackers. Both pressed an attack where the substance had clung to its belly scales and I saw that the weapons could actually penetrate the hide. However, the dragon didn’t get dissuaded by the pain, and let loose a torrent of fire on the warrior.

His screams could be heard where we were watching and soon there was nothing left of the halberd, and the man had fallen. His armor was warped, and he looked to have serious burns as he fell to the ground. Before he could hit the ground, a green light enveloped him, and he disappeared. His companion, however, had continued to fire at the dragon’s chest, perhaps hoping to finish the battle in his friend’s stead, but they had only gotten the dragon’s health down to two thirds. It took to the sky and the man began to panic, running instead of using his crystal. The beast then laid a torrent of fire on him and soon he, too, fell to the ground, his crossbow now a cinder.

A moment later, he was enveloped in a green light and vanished. We watched as the dragon flew back to the stairwell to land in front of it. Though Enti had to re-acquire her lock on the dragon, it showed its health was still low. When it landed, we watched as it pulled the metal head of the halberd out of its chest, causing its health to lessen a bit more. The beast roared in pain and then began pulling out the bolts from the crossbow still lodged in its hide and eye. I looked at the girls, and they nodded confirming they, too, noticed the effect that it had. A thought popped into my head and I turned to Enti, as soon as we got down from the trees.

“Enti, how loud do you have to speak the words? Do you have to be stationary or can you chant and cast while on the move?”

“I have to speak the chants,” she replied as she pondered my questions, “but I have cast in the past using only a whisper. As for the movement question, I have never really tried, but I can see the advantage to being able to do so. I could chant as I close range, and stop to cast, before moving again.”

“How much energy does that take? I mean, how many spells could you cast in a day? Though - more importantly - during this fight?”

She approached me and brought her bracer in front of me. I could see the health bar along her bracer, but she had another bar below it, in blue. It looked like a fifth of the energy was gone.

“The second bar is my mana. We actually used more, but while we were resting, I regained some of it. I believe I cast the ice balls five times and the blades three times, plus a rock wall and fireball attack. That cut my mana down to around two thirds, so I should be okay to cast at least twenty more continuous spells. Mind you, though, each ball and blade casting was a single, but the attacks against the dragon would be multiple so it will have to depend on what I cast.”

I nodded in response,”Okay, that will have to do for now. Once this is done, we will spend some time on the first floor working on different ways we can utilize our various skills as a whole more cohesively. Enti, I want to approach as silently as we can. Only when we are close enough do I want you to cast. The idea is when it turns to see us, you can hit it with your ice balls. I am hoping to hit the same area as the sludge, allowing our weapons a chance to penetrate deep enough to reach its heart.”

We were already out of our vantage point and making our way towards the dragon as quietly as we could when it had finished removing the various projectiles. I had gotten within range and had locked my map on the creature and watched as its health dwindled further. Enti nodded when we were within her casting range and I let out a challenging roar that caused the dragon to instinctively turn to face me. The moment we had during its turn left its chest vulnerable to attack and Enti took her shot. Four balls of ice collided with the creature’s chest, though it was a little high compared to where the previous group’s sludge had landed. The result was still as I had hoped, and the beast roared in pain. We moved out of the way, and Amenthia took a shot at the dragon’s good eye. It moved before the arrow could strike true, allowing the arrow to glance off its brow instead, enraging the beast.

The dragon stretched out its massive wings and I nodded to the girls to go to the second stage. As it began to flap its wings to take flight, I got in front of Enti in case the beast decided to hit us with a torrent of fire while she finished casting her next attack. She finished and six large ice javelins appeared, and with a quick gesture, were sent hurtling towards the wings of the dragon. Amenthia was also shooting at the membrane, in the hopes of piercing it as well and succeeding in splitting the dragon’s focus. If we did enough damage to its wings, it would render them unable of giving lift and remove any chance of it gaining an advantage.

It roared in defiance and continued to flap its wings, but the force of air being displaced, caused the holes we made to tear and increase in size. With its ability to fly removed, I glanced at its health, happy to see that we had dropped it some and the molten ice was causing damage over time as it continued to freeze the scales it had hit. I watched as the dragon pulled back its head and knew what was going to happen next.

“Everyone, take cover now!” I yelled causing them to look at its head. “It’s going to hit us with a torrent of fire.”

Amenthia ran towards a rocky outcropping that could possibly shield some of the damage, but Enti did not budge. Instead she was chanting and gestured in front of us and where Amenthia had taken cover. Just as flames burst out of the dragon’s mouth, walls of solid ice shot up out of the ground. The torrent of flames was strong, with some of the flames licking at us from around the walls. Thankfully the cloaks and enchantments seemed to protect us as we waited out its attack.

Thankfully the ice walls were holding back the attack but for how long? I could see that Enti had her right hand outstretched, no doubt feeding the wall mana, to keep it strong through the attack. Enti was not waiting however, instead she was preparing another volley of ice balls, using her left hand to control the spell. The attack went on longer than expected, but I believed that it would result in a longer period of time before it could use that attack again. The ice started to buckle against its torrent of fire, audible cracks filling the air and, just as we thought the walls would fail, the torrent stopped.

With a gesture of Enti’s right hand, the walls dropped, and she stretched out her left, sending three ice balls hurtling towards the dragon. The dragon tried to pull its wings in front of itself, in an attempt to protect its body, but one of the balls made it through. The impacts of the balls caused the dragon to roar in pain once again and it involuntarily opened its wings, showing that a ball had struck near the first impact point. A glance at my bracer showed that the dragon’s health was steadily dropping, with the damage over time quickly whittling away its health.

“Amenthia, concentrate fire on the scales affected by the ice balls. They should be brittle enough by now. Enti, prepare a javelin onslaught for the same region, while I draw its attention.”

Without waiting for a reply, I began to charge the beast, cries of panic came from the girls, but I couldn’t let my resolve falter now. As I closed the space between us, I screamed in rage, hoping that it would taunt the dragon into focusing on me, while arrows whizzed by striking the dragon’s chest. While they concentrated on the now-vulnerable area, I looked to attack its limbs where the armor was less apparent. I wanted to keep the dragon off balance, slashing at its forearms and the crook of the dragon’s elbow, hoping that it would cause some damage. While I couldn’t see any cuts or gashes, I was forced to dodge swipes of its claws and even attempts to bite me, meaning my plan was working.