Not cool.
Ahhh. Not coooool!
Woah! Not coooooooool!
Too fast! Too fa…arghhh! Owww!
In a hail of claws, I barely managed to dodge most attacks by the skin of my teeth, but the panic caused by the garm’s flurry made me unable to react to the [Dark Slash] that sliced a portion of my scales off my body. This was a serious problem now.
If a simple [Dark Tendrils] spell was able to cause me that much agony with a simple touch, then what about an actual offensive dark elemental spell? Well, being hit by [Dark Slash] felt like having my skin violently torn apart and then having this exposed flesh seared by fire.
My pain affected my parallel minds. Already stressed out to find a way to counter, their usage of [Moderate Heal] felt like an eternity.
The battle had just started but I was already feeling as I if I wanted to run away. Maybe it was mental fatigue from listening to the male garm’s last words, but my reactions felt slower. My breathing was heavy, my heartbeat couldn’t stop accelerating, and I kept thinking why the hell I accepted the garm matriarch's request in the first place.
[“Stand.”]
Urgh, jerk.
Despite being wounded, the matriarch had no problem starting the fight strong. She vanished into her shadow, teleporting behind me with [Shadow Dash] before trying to bite my neck. I dodged and countered it with a [Spark Claw] out of instinct. Again, contrary to her condition, she sidestepped it and started her [Dark Slash] barrage.
I wasn’t sure if she was baiting me to stay close to her. With [Chant Revocation Lv. 4], her cast speed was pretty quick, compared to her partner, pushing me onto the defensive with her consecutive spells. It was overwhelming as she sprinted around the air, outmaneuvering me with a bombardment of spells.
When she at a mid-range distance, I thought I could cast my own spells to attack, but she would instantly pounce at me, delivering a bite or claw attack to interrupt me. If I tried to use [Terra Wall] or [Wind Blast] to escape, she would just use [Shadow Dash] to keep up. I had no room to breathe.
But, what was the most surprising was that her [Dark Slash] actually penetrated my [Draconic Barrier]. It did soften the attack up, so I didn’t receive the full brunt of it, but it still hurted like hell.
…No, wait… The damage would have been lethal…
My body further tensed up at this thought.
[“W-Wait, stop! You said this was—”]
[“Learn by eyeing Goddess Death herself in the face! Push her back! Fight back!”] The matriarch dismissed my concerns and continued her onslaught when I stood up.
I thought she was trying to teach me something. I thought she wanted me to kill her or something. But it was a trick! It was a goddamn trick! This was a real fight! I was gonna die if I lost this!
Parallel minds, we need to fully focus. This garm is no pushover! Buffs up!
Play the mage. Stay away from her and bombard her non-stop with spells, as she was doing. Unlike her, I had superior firepower in the form of numerous spells! I needed to take the initiative away from her!
Having chosen to use my preferred battle style — hit-and-run, I jumped off the ground and began running away from the garm, meanwhile, all my parallel minds began returning fire at the garm while slowly readying the necessary spells to turn this battle around.
Even if I was tricked into this crap, I would not accept death this pathetic! Either I will escape, or kill this thing! Nothing else! Gotta stay positive!
Naturally, the garm pursued me. No doubt, she was extremely angry I killed off her family and she kept her emotions locked and sealed away until she caught me in this trap. Escaping might be too hard since she knew this area of this forest maze like the back of her hand, but she was near death. I could kill her if I push this long enough.
It could definitely work, with how critical her condition and stamina were, but I had a similar problem. I recovered my Mana from the level up and my Stamina wasn’t spent too much, but considering how intense my parallel minds were shooting out spells, I couldn’t help but worry.
This fight would become a war of attrition if nothing else happened.
With every readied spell, my parallel mind would cast it and start anew with a different spell. Seeing the colorful parade of magical attacks was mesmerizing but also confusing, as my parallel minds were definitely going crazy with the variety of spells. Ranging from attack spells like [Petal Flames] to disruptive ones like [Earthen Shackles].
The matriarch seemed to be having some trouble but all the dashing, jumping, twisting, and vaulting through this bullet hell without taking any major damage was an impressive feat by itself!
After dodging another spell, she shot out a [Dark Bolt] not at my body directly, but at one of the spell circles. It clashed against the materialized spell, delaying it for two seconds before it cast. And in this very moment, she used this chance to dive into her shadow.
She reappeared directly in front of me, like, I bumped right into her body as she jumped out from a dark spot. Without hesitation, she slashed at me. I rolled to the side, emergency casting a [Terra Wall] where I was lying a second ago to push the garm into the sky. In the next moment, [Dark Tendrils] shot out from the ground, grabbed the wolf at her limbs, and pulled her in for the next attack.
Literally, no breaks. This fight was going too fast for me! I needed to widen the distance between us, so I blasted her with [Wind Blast] at point-blank as she was about to get me. The spell did no damage, but it pushed her back a bit and helped me get to the air, where I started flapping my wings.
I was still far from being called a good flier, so I would rather not fight her like this. However, air superiority should be the advantage I needed to win this fight… or at least I hope she couldn’t fly, too.
… Ok, thankfully she couldn’t fly. She did try using [Dark Tendrils] to snatch me but due to how much distance I had brought myself from any source of shadows, I could rest easy knowing that she won’t be able to use [Shadow Dash] on me again.
Wait, what am I doing. I can get out of here! I can fly—
[“No! Stop! You must take care of my pup!”]
Lady, I don’t want to fucking die to you! You are just trying to trick me here! I am not going to die here! Surviving was winning! Surviving was winning!
Fear had completely taken over my body after she showed me the clear disparity in our abilities. She was not a C rank for nothing. If I didn’t get away now, when would I ever get a better oppur—
‘Original mind, move!’ Manager Mind warned me as I turned my head around, only for a set of [Dark Tendrils] to nearly grab me!
I looked down, where I saw it was cast from my blind spot. It traveled form a tree all the way up here. And while I was preoccupied by this, [Prediction] ringed out, warning me just in time for the garm to suddenly launch at me like a catapult!
Oh shit! Wind Blast!
I dodged it by blasting wind against my wings, to shoot myself to the sides, where I saw the matriarch descending back to the ground, only for those tendrils from before to catch up just in time to prevent fall damage.
She then used the momentum she had with her tendrils, letting them act like a swing to propel herself back into the air like a Mister Amazing Spiderdude! She was not willing to let me go at all! Was this some sorta joke? I wasn’t even safe in the skies?!
Burn the trees!
As drastic as that idea was, it had to be done. She was swinging around using the [Dark Tendrils], and I had the feeling she could keep this spider act up as long as she was persistent enough to chase me down.
The only path forward was to use [Spark Fire Breath] and have the one parallel minds shoot down fire spells. Four of them had to keep me flying, so it should be entirely possible for me to do this!
Let’s do this, girls!
Commencing my plan, Manager mind began shooting out strong spells once at a time. From [Flame Spear] to [Flame Explosion], fire began to ravage the whole area in an inferno. The ground was ravaged with spells breaking up pieces of the earth, terraforming this grassland of bones into a battlefield of destruction.
As more and more spells exploded and consumed the vegetation beneath, the area that the garm could move around decreased at a staggering rate, not slowing down as I burned through my mana like a madwoman. The garm didn’t falter while evading all of it. Suddenly, an idea appeared as my confidence surged from seeing her fun.
I could lure her into a trap.
Yes! That’s it, just a little bit more! Breathing in the smoke probably clouded my judgement at this moment, or a bit of arrogance was building up inside me from seeing how easily I burned everything down.
Regardless, my wish to escape disappeared. I honestly thought at this moment, I could kill her.
…
Now! Spark Fire Breath. Inferno Blast.
A stream of dragon fire submerged the area under me while [Inferno Blast] was cast consecutively to bomb the ground. Compared to the fight from earlier, I made sure to control the fire, making sure I was completely burning down everything, especially with whatever was in the middle of that nest.
I hope I got her with this…
With the smoke clearing, the answer to my question was a disappointing “No.” Dumbfounded that something so completely out of my expectations happened, a certain amount of fear and impatience began to creep up on me. I mean, there was nowhere to dodge, and I saw the ground under me being completely drowned in a sea of fire.
No way, no way. Why didn’t it work! Did I aim correctly? I must have missed but-but how. The whole area is on fire. No way did she dodged that.
In all my panic, a bolt of [Dark Bolt] came shooting up to me, nearly hitting one of my wings.
Ahhh! Sch-Schei-Scheiße, calm down wings, calm down!
No warnings. None of my skills activated at all.
But I couldn’t worry about that just yet. I needed to control my flying… and I needed to get my head back into the game. Gotta calm down. I even had to calm down my parallel minds as they started to go crazy from where that attack came from. My pride was just hurt!
When I stopped myself from crash landing, I healed my wings and darted my head around and around. [Detection Sensor] was showing nothing, but I knew she had to be here somewhere. No way would she—
Woah?!
Strong gust of wind suddenly blasted against my back, causing me to lose control again. It felt like a [Wind Blast]. No, it had to be that spell. And my suspicions were confirmed when I suddenly saw the matriarch with a green magic circle next to her. I had forgotten she could use [Wind Magic].
Flame Spear!
“Wrouuuuh!”
[Wind Slash] burst forward at me before a spear of red flames dispersed it and pierced through the air to attack the garm. However, she dodged and then began shooting more long-range spells at me. I thought she was crazy for doing this, but this had to be a sign she was weakening. A fire show was my type of game!
If she continues this casting speed, then her mana will run out earlier than mine I thought. I was really hoping that she was panicking, knowing she wouldn’t win an attrition war and make a mistake for me to take advantage of. It honestly sounded like the perfect bait to keep me around from my greed to win.
And it certainly was, the best bait she could have used.
…! From behind!
[Prediction] suddenly warned me of an attack.
Huh? What? There is nothing there. Woah! Scheiße, come on [Prediction] you can’t mess with me in this kinda situation. I have no room for errors!
[Prediction] warned me another source of killing intent, similar to the garm’s, was coming from behind me. However, there was nothing. The garm was still standing there in front of me, so how could it be possible? Could it be some kinda trick?
With this thought, I went ahead and used [Identify] to reassess her.
Identify.
____________________________
Spell List: Dark spells:
[Dark Bolt] [Dark Tendrils] [Shadow Dash] [Dark Slash] [Shadow Clones] [Shadow Snake]
[Enfeebling Winds]
Wind spells:
[Wind Bullet] [Wind Cutter] [Air Shield] [Wind Slash] [Swift Winds] [Wind Blast]
____________________________
And there it was. She had hid her spell list. I knew something was up when I saw her [Dark Magic Lv. 9] and [Wind Magic Lv. 6] without the correct amount of spells.
It was a fatal mistake, caused by all the panic I felt from this battle.
During this moment where the new information began streaming into my head, I also heard some rustling in a tree behind me.
Uh?! Spark…
A gleaming claw coated in a liquid appeared—
— and slashed at my back.
…Flame…Argh!!!
I didn’t know how she did it. All I knew was that she used [Shadow Clones] and substituted herself somewhere in time. She then climbed a tree behind me and ambushed me while my attention was pinned on the clone in front of me. She used her stealth abilities phenomenally. At least, that was what I guessed from all the evidence as I plummeted to the ground.
A sharp feeling of pain appeared on my back, only able to imagine how terrible the gash was. I was able to shoot out [Spark Flame] after getting hit but a sense of weakness surged within me. With my body having lost locomotion, and with the elevation I was upon being hit, my landing was nothing less but almost bone-crushing.
Still, somehow, I was able to hit the garm at the very last second.
Bufu…kurgh!
Why does…my body feel so weak?
Nothing wanted to move. My whole body was numb from whatever she used to do this to me. Was it an ability? No. This wasn’t the time to contemplate that. I need to use [Cure] to get rid of these abnormal effects.
[“You must use tools and toxi— No! Do not heal yourself right now!”]
Argh, go to hell! Cure. Urgh! Ahhhhhhhh.
Scheiße! My back! My back. What is this pain? Modest Heal! Uuraaaagahhhh!
< [Damaged Mana Path [Left Wing] (Minor)] inflicted on [Young Crimson Spark Dragon *]>
An unbearable pain came flooding through me from my left wing, where I could audibly hear something popping.
[“I have left a deep gash on your back, close to the wings… The ancestor told me you did not properly heal the mana paths in your rush.”]
…Urgh, the abnormal effects are gone, and I healed my lost health but why is [Damaged Mana Path [Left Wing]] not going away?! Modest Heal… What?!
The pain was gone, but the status effect isn’t going away!
[“What did you do to me?!”] I demanded an answer, which she replied to in a monotonous voice.
["I merely slashed your back. I sneak passed your senses and created an opening for a window of attack. If you mean the abnormal effects, then allow me to explain."]
With that said, she raised her right paw and showed some sorta green liquid. The fluid coated her claw, dripping some of it to the ground.
["This is a poison I have concocted. It is a mixture of three poison that each inflict paralyzation, drowsiness and health damage separately."]
[“You-You made that?”]
[“I saw human hunters soaking their projectiles with a poison they have created. I have used it ever since to grow and defeat beasts above my rank and status. Remember this, and teach my pup in my stead.”]
Human hunters? I saw on T.V. that some indigenous humans would coat their arrows with poison from animals in the area. Is this what she meant with “projectiles?”
[“Now…”]
Having answered my question, the garm continued the fight by disappearing into her shadow.
[Shadow Dash] again! I can’t dodge it! [Terra Wall]? No time. There really isn’t time to think. Just do something! Here she comes!
Come flames! Uhh… fire wall?!
I had no time to use [Imperial Hellfire] again, forced to create a firewall with all the surrounding flames. [Pyrokinesis] just saved my life here, as the garm’s advance was stopped.
Should buy me enough time.
Instead of using her claws and fangs, the garm resorted back to using spells to pierce my wall of fire. I just trapped myself in a small area, having to rely on [Prediction] to dodge.
‘We’re trapped in our own attack! We need to do something!’ #2 cried out in a panic, emphasizing the general hecticness my mind was in.
Your suggestion, then?!
‘I don’t think we’ve any choice left. [Imperial Hellfire]!’ #3 suggested, but I couldn’t help but find that absurd.
What?! She’s just gonna dodge it!
‘[Spark Fire Breath] to create more fire and then use that to do an [Imperial Hellfire]. Even if she dodges it, we have no other choice. We’re gonna die if we don’t try!’
Urgh. R.I.P forest.
With no choice left, I was persuaded.
Spark Fire Breath. Hopefully, I can jump high enough…
Please let this work…Imperial Hellfire!
‘‘‘Oh noooo!’’’
My parallel minds shouted in unison, voices filled with distress, as I started to feel some heat inside my body. Similar to a fever, it spread throughout my body, invoking nausea and internal pain. It felt like something was ripping me from the inside!
Shit! Arcane corruption! Too much!
It was the same ailment I received when the male garm chased me. I could still remember the pain. But I didn’t care. I had to endure it! Grit my teeth for this final moment!
Shooting myself into the air with [Wind Blast], my body suddenly began to shake violently as I began to push myself over my limit. Using as much Mana as I could afford, I expelled a flame breath into the air. I gathered this fire and the ones burning down the forest at this moment into a giant inferno ball right above my head.
At this very moment, I noticed my parallel minds couldn’t pour any mana into my left wing. The side that was injured. No pain was coming from it, but without my second wing to balance myself up, I couldn’t fly and started falling back to the ground!
Fuck it!
Relying on my parallel minds to soften my landing, I called the name of the spell and crashed onto the ground with the ball, creating a massive sea of flames! The forest might get burned again but this really wasn't the time to think about anything else besides survival. Green Peace would lynch me for this!
“Gawroooooh”
Huh? No way! Is that [Air Shield]? No way are you able to block all of this!
[Air Shield] was an extremely useful skill. It protected you not only from damage, but also sound and gasses, since the barrier was made from air. However, to maintain it, you had to continuously supply it with mana. No matter how good you were as a mage, being forced to use this spell to block a stream attack was suicide. After, [Arcane Fever] and [Mana Stress] was a mage’s eterna enemy.
You had to be insane to keep it up against my [Imperial Hellfire].
… And the garm matriarch was exactly that.
Bu-But why does it look like she can make it through this, too? Those eyes…those fucking eyes. WHY DO THEY LOOK LIKE SHE CAN HANDLE EVEN MORE!
The waves of flame continued on and on, but the matriarch simply kept the shield up. When I crashed on the ground, she began moving somewhere. I thought she wanted to escape, but she suddenly stopped where she was currently standing. Not an inch away.
She blocked the flames like a shield, diverting it away from whatever was standing behind her. She endured it all like a mighty boulder, undeterred by something as inconsequential as my fire. Until all that flame died out.
No way. No way. No way. No way. No way.
I can’t do this. I can’t do this. I can’t do this. I fucked up, again. I fucked up, again. I fucked up, again!
Everything was over. I was already losing Health due to [Arcane Fever] and moving my mana around my body felt like having rough sand coursing through my bloodstream, ripping tiny little scars along the blood vessels.
My strongest spell was repelled. Only cinders and the scorched marks on the grass was left behind. Everything was returned to ashes and dust… except the target I wanted dead.
With the shield dispelled, the garm looked no worse than in the beginning. The only scar… the only damage she received in this whole fight was a bit of sizzled fur on her belly when she attacked my back.
There is always someone better, huh…
[“Everything for my daughter… for my pack… for my family.”]
Useless. All I did was useless. Nothing I did meant anything. Struggle however I want, it won’t be enough to change the results.
[“Stand, dragon… You cannot?”]
How is ambition or hard work worth anything, if you just can’t do it? Try as you will, sometimes it just won’t work out. You stand up, you fall. You stand up again, you fall. You stand up, stand up, stand up, stand up…but you fail.
These thoughts ran through my head as my body lost all the strength it needed to continue this fight. The looming shadow of the garm as she approached me felt cold and terrible. I wanted to cry. I wanted to scream. But I couldn't. I didn't have the energy in my body anymore.
I was so tired. Soooo tired. Only adrenaline was keeping me awake at this very moment.
[“You fought well. You are strong. Stand, child.”]
Why are you encouraging me? Can’t you see that I have tried it over and over and over and over and over, again? It won’t work out this time. I am not as good as you. I am just gonna fail again.
A dark fog clouded my mind. All my failures of my two lives flashed before me, ending in a moment where I encouraged myself to go on. Was my mind telling me to continue? It was impossible, though. I was frozen in place by fear, exhaustion, and the sadness of my inability to best the garm.
[“If this is all you can muster then this is the end, young dragon.”]
Is this the end? Death… Will I once again fail? But I don’t want to. I don’t wanna! Move, body! Move! Please!
But my limbs were frail. The beating in my heart was so audible it sounded like a countdown.
P-Pleeease! Move!
The game came ever closer, but even in my last moment to somehow gather up the strength to move like in an anime, I couldn’t. I couldn’t move! Even if I tried to cast a spell, the pain assaulted my body like a knife. I squirmed around on the ground.
All I could do was wait for my death…
“Wru?”
… but it wouldn’t come today.
An explosion of blood and gore exploded in front of the garm. It was loud enough to wake me up from my melancholy to notice that the garm was missing a leg.
I widened my eyes, shocked as the garm fell face first onto the ground, covering it up in the ash. I was flabbergasted. What exactly happened?
…Identify.
_____________________________________
Name: * Level: 28 Race: Darkness Garm
Age: 9 Years
Status: Health: 243/5598 Mana: 0/3609
Strength: 2101 Intelligence: 1903
Vitality: 1602 Wisdom: 1409
Agility: 2701 Stamina: 0/3590
Effects: [Exhaustion (Critical)] [Bleeding (Critical)] [Stress (Critical)]
[Mana Stress (Critical)] [Arcane Fever (Critical) [Adrenaline (Major)]
_____________________________________
[Mana Stress (Critical)] … [Arcane Fever (Critical)] …What?
[“I-I seem to ha-have… use too much… mana.”] I could hear her wheezing even from this distance. I couldn’t properly process any of this information, so I just stayed silent.
[“This was not the ending I was…planning. I thought I could… hold on for a bit longer. I still have a ton more I wanted to show you. To help you survive, little whelp. I want to move”]
[“…”]
[“Come, child. Do not… give me that look… I was destined to die today. At least, I am able to, aahhhh, find a strong guardian for my pup. You are a strong child. Stand. Stand proud.”]
… Another explosion.
“Wrah! Wrooooo…”
[“Grrrrk! Grak… How regrettable…I wish to… apologize for this harsh training. Conflict steels both mind and body. Learn with the pain. Survive. Evolve. You are an otherworldler, so you must… grow strong.”]
Gritting my teeth from the use of mana, I sent a telepathic message to her. I wanted answers. [“You… What do you mean by that? Why are you speaking as if you are so familiar with me?”]
[“… As I said. My pup is a reincarnator just like you. She had a name when she was born. In the pile of my stillborn pups, she was the only one who cried. A miscarriage… and I would die for it.”] Sorrow was clear to be heard. Her emotions were even affecting me. [“So, please, promise me, reincarnator of the Goddess of Light and God of Dragons. Take care of my little pup. My last gift, to this world. Please listen to the words of this dying mother. She is… the last Belzac…”]
“Wroooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!”
With a howl similar to her partner, her heavily damaged body dropped onto the ground.
What?
I blinked. I blinked. I blinked. Nothing in my mind was even working properly right now. I fully accepted my death. But… I survived?
Right in front of me, the garm matriarch breathed her last. Her face crashed on the ground and her dead eyes were staring right into mine. No emotions were left in them. Voided of any semblance of the same beast who drove me down this far.
There is nothing to feel good about this sort of ending. I was defeated. I should have been the one to die. She should have been the one to survive for her baby’s sake.
Once again, a sound broke my melancholy. My attention returned back to reality to discern where it came from.
Whimpers?
The cries of a baby, no, that of a puppy. It forced my head up, to where it all came from. Right behind the garm’s body was the nest. In other words, at the very last moment, she sacrificed her life to protect her baby from my selfish attack. She knew she would die from her wounds, and she still pushed her body to the limits of her ability just for her child.
She…wanted me to look after the baby, right? The killer of her mother… looking after her infant? Pure nauseating irony… but …to the victor goes the spoils and, in my book, this win was hers.
I crawled towards the nest in the center of the area. My battle with the garm was devastating for the whole area. The only place that seemed normal, unharmed from anything I did, was this little nest for her baby. That fierce determination was to protect this child.
I moved close and took a peek.
“Wruf!”
Scheiße, I scared her! I flinched
I need to talk to her. Urgh…
At least with my level up, all the Health and Mana I lost was recovered, but [Arcane Fever] still hadn’t disappeared. Regardless, I had to push onwards.
[“Uhh, I’m sorry. Please don’t be scared. I am not here to hurt you.”]
Easier said than done, really. Imagine hearing that from a black-scaled dragon, after all the screams and explosions waking you up from your nap. And the first person you see weren’t your parents, but their killer.
Can she understand me? Telepathy should be able to convey my intentions but maybe she wasn’t old enough to fully grasp it. I should check her age.
Identify.
_____________________________________
Name: Saori Segawa Level: 0 Race: Young Warg
Age: 0 Month
Status: Health: 50/50 Mana: 15/15
Strength: 30 Intelligence: 10
Vitality: 15 Wisdom: 10
Agility: 35 Stamina: 40/40
Effects: None
Skill Points: 0
Skill: [Primal Senses] [Enhanced Claws Lv. 1] [Enhanced Fangs Lv. 1]
[Telepathy]
Title: [Belzac’s Successor] [Otherworldly Reincarnator]
_____________________________________
…! S-Saori?
[“Anata wa… osoraku, nihonjin-desu… ka?”] (Are you…, perhaps, Japanese?)
I instinctively talked in Japanese. My mother’s language.
“Wruf?!”
Wait, [Telepathy] pretty much translates my words. She wouldn’t be able to know I could speak Japanese, but she should be able to understand what I said thern…Then, why was I speaking in Japanese, then? For nostalgia’s sake?
[“I, too, am… a reincarnator. I died on earth and was reborn as a dragon in this world.”]
“Wruf?! Wroof!”
I could see her wagging her tail uncontrollably, with eyes showing fear but also confusion. I could relate. Being reborn into a weird world, with weird things, and in a weird body would cause anybody to ask thousands of questions.
[“Huh, what? I can’t understand you. Can’t you use your skill [Telepathy]?”]
“Wruf?”
[“You don’t? Uhh, to use it you just need to think and imagine sending a message to me. It feels like sending an E-Mail but through our thoughts… ah, please hold on! I will touch your paw with my tail, so please don’t be scared. I really am not here to hurt you.”]
Uhh, I nearly forgot that [Telepathy] consumed mana. She would probably kill herself if she used it with her current amount. With my control over my own mana, I was able to transfer some of it, through touch, over to somebody. It worked on the barracudas so it should work on wargs, right?
[“Ok, I am lending you a bit of my mana so try using [Telepathy] as I explained.”]
[“… Hello?”]
A voice! A soft one. A female one.
[“Yes, hello! Hello! How are you?!”]
I immediately replied when I heard her voice in my head. The excitement overwhelmed my actions. I was speaking with another person! It worked.
… However, from how she flinched back, I probably scared her. I should stay calm. [Arcane Fever] wouldn’t kill me if I don’t overuse my mana. Probably.
[“Oh, sorry for scaring you again, I didn’t mean to shout like that. Are you speaking Japanese, right now? [Telepathy] automatically translates what we say, so I believe you are understanding everything in Japanese, while I am understanding them in English.”]
[“I-I see…”]
[“Oh right, introductions! I am… You must be Saori Segawa, right? Or, uhm, Segawa Saori-san?”]
That felt a bit awkward, but what could I say? I couldn’t remember my name.
[“Yes, I am Segawa Saori… How do you know my name?”]
Hearing her confirm her name turned something on inside my head. I felt… happy. This might sound weird, but it felt like all the bad things that just happened, they just simply vanished.
I knew I couldn’t forget what happened, but in this moment, I felt as if the world was turning around in my favor. The darkness shrouding everything vanished. Like a light at the end of a tunnel. I wanted to grasp it. Hold it. Protect it.
[“There is a skill [Identify] that allows me to look at other’s profile. A profile is similar to a twitter profile screen.”]
Now that I think about it, wasn’t that kinda creepy?
[“Is that not an intrusion to the privacy of others…woah! Careful! Are you ok?!”] Saori cried out in worry as I fell onto the ground.
[“Urgh, the fatigue is getting to me now. I’m sorry but I think I need to go to sleep now…”]
My body finally gave in. Two battles I was not prepared for, both extremely taxing on both my mind and body, and in such a short time. The exhaustion itself wasn’t bad, I’ll probably wake up in a day, but what concerned me was this [Arcane Fever]. My Health recovered, but it was slowly decreasing, showing no signs of stopping.
[“Huh? Wait, please stop! You cannot sleep now. This whole situation is very vexing, and I need more answers like what this place is sup…”]
Before I finally succumbed to the heavy strains on my body, I erected an igloo made from [Terra Wall], took out a spare [Meat Paradise], and ignited a campfire with some spare wood I had in my storage. I gave out a yawn and then crashed into the garm’s nest, mind foggy and my strength depleted.
[“Whe-Where did this bowl come from?! How was this thing constructed?! Why is there a fire now?! Why…it is asleep… At least introduce yourself before you fall asleep. Unbelievable, first a giant wolf and now a giant lizard with wings? This just has to be a dream… right?”]
That was all I could hear until I slowly drifted off, once again entering a coma-like state. Before I fully lost my consciousness, I prayed. To nobody specific, I just dearly wanted somebody to hear this wish.
Please, I do not want to die yet. Not now, when I am finally not alone anymore. I will change and stop acting like a whiny little brat, so please! Please, let me live.
Garm Matriarch, if you can me. Please, grant me your strength one last time. So, I can uphold my promise to you.
AbyssRaven First Party Member, getto! Also, rest in peace, garm matriarch. You did your best to give your pup a better life.
Not cool.
Ahhh. Not coooool!
Woah! Not coooooooool!
Too fast! Too fa…arghhh! Owww!
In a hail of claws, I barely managed to dodge most attacks by the skin of my teeth, but the panic caused by the garm’s flurry made me unable to react to the [Dark Slash] that sliced a portion of my scales off my body. This was a serious problem now.
If a simple [Dark Tendrils] spell was able to cause me that much agony with a simple touch, then what about an actual offensive dark elemental spell? Well, being hit by [Dark Slash] felt like having my skin violently torn apart and then having this exposed flesh seared by fire.
My pain affected my parallel minds. Already stressed out to find a way to counter, their usage of [Moderate Heal] felt like an eternity.
The battle had just started but I was already feeling as I if I wanted to run away. Maybe it was mental fatigue from listening to the male garm’s last words, but my reactions felt slower. My breathing was heavy, my heartbeat couldn’t stop accelerating, and I kept thinking why the hell I accepted the garm matriarch's request in the first place.
[“Stand.”]
Urgh, jerk.
Despite being wounded, the matriarch had no problem starting the fight strong. She vanished into her shadow, teleporting behind me with [Shadow Dash] before trying to bite my neck. I dodged and countered it with a [Spark Claw] out of instinct. Again, contrary to her condition, she sidestepped it and started her [Dark Slash] barrage.
I wasn’t sure if she was baiting me to stay close to her. With [Chant Revocation Lv. 4], her cast speed was pretty quick, compared to her partner, pushing me onto the defensive with her consecutive spells. It was overwhelming as she sprinted around the air, outmaneuvering me with a bombardment of spells.
When she at a mid-range distance, I thought I could cast my own spells to attack, but she would instantly pounce at me, delivering a bite or claw attack to interrupt me. If I tried to use [Terra Wall] or [Wind Blast] to escape, she would just use [Shadow Dash] to keep up. I had no room to breathe.
But, what was the most surprising was that her [Dark Slash] actually penetrated my [Draconic Barrier]. It did soften the attack up, so I didn’t receive the full brunt of it, but it still hurted like hell.
…No, wait… The damage would have been lethal…
My body further tensed up at this thought.
[“W-Wait, stop! You said this was—”]
[“Learn by eyeing Goddess Death herself in the face! Push her back! Fight back!”] The matriarch dismissed my concerns and continued her onslaught when I stood up.
I thought she was trying to teach me something. I thought she wanted me to kill her or something. But it was a trick! It was a goddamn trick! This was a real fight! I was gonna die if I lost this!
Parallel minds, we need to fully focus. This garm is no pushover! Buffs up!
Play the mage. Stay away from her and bombard her non-stop with spells, as she was doing. Unlike her, I had superior firepower in the form of numerous spells! I needed to take the initiative away from her!
Having chosen to use my preferred battle style — hit-and-run, I jumped off the ground and began running away from the garm, meanwhile, all my parallel minds began returning fire at the garm while slowly readying the necessary spells to turn this battle around.
Even if I was tricked into this crap, I would not accept death this pathetic! Either I will escape, or kill this thing! Nothing else! Gotta stay positive!
Naturally, the garm pursued me. No doubt, she was extremely angry I killed off her family and she kept her emotions locked and sealed away until she caught me in this trap. Escaping might be too hard since she knew this area of this forest maze like the back of her hand, but she was near death. I could kill her if I push this long enough.
It could definitely work, with how critical her condition and stamina were, but I had a similar problem. I recovered my Mana from the level up and my Stamina wasn’t spent too much, but considering how intense my parallel minds were shooting out spells, I couldn’t help but worry.
This fight would become a war of attrition if nothing else happened.
With every readied spell, my parallel mind would cast it and start anew with a different spell. Seeing the colorful parade of magical attacks was mesmerizing but also confusing, as my parallel minds were definitely going crazy with the variety of spells. Ranging from attack spells like [Petal Flames] to disruptive ones like [Earthen Shackles].
The matriarch seemed to be having some trouble but all the dashing, jumping, twisting, and vaulting through this bullet hell without taking any major damage was an impressive feat by itself!
After dodging another spell, she shot out a [Dark Bolt] not at my body directly, but at one of the spell circles. It clashed against the materialized spell, delaying it for two seconds before it cast. And in this very moment, she used this chance to dive into her shadow.
She reappeared directly in front of me, like, I bumped right into her body as she jumped out from a dark spot. Without hesitation, she slashed at me. I rolled to the side, emergency casting a [Terra Wall] where I was lying a second ago to push the garm into the sky. In the next moment, [Dark Tendrils] shot out from the ground, grabbed the wolf at her limbs, and pulled her in for the next attack.
Literally, no breaks. This fight was going too fast for me! I needed to widen the distance between us, so I blasted her with [Wind Blast] at point-blank as she was about to get me. The spell did no damage, but it pushed her back a bit and helped me get to the air, where I started flapping my wings.
I was still far from being called a good flier, so I would rather not fight her like this. However, air superiority should be the advantage I needed to win this fight… or at least I hope she couldn’t fly, too.
… Ok, thankfully she couldn’t fly. She did try using [Dark Tendrils] to snatch me but due to how much distance I had brought myself from any source of shadows, I could rest easy knowing that she won’t be able to use [Shadow Dash] on me again.
Wait, what am I doing. I can get out of here! I can fly—
[“No! Stop! You must take care of my pup!”]
Lady, I don’t want to fucking die to you! You are just trying to trick me here! I am not going to die here! Surviving was winning! Surviving was winning!
Fear had completely taken over my body after she showed me the clear disparity in our abilities. She was not a C rank for nothing. If I didn’t get away now, when would I ever get a better oppur—
‘Original mind, move!’ Manager Mind warned me as I turned my head around, only for a set of [Dark Tendrils] to nearly grab me!
I looked down, where I saw it was cast from my blind spot. It traveled form a tree all the way up here. And while I was preoccupied by this, [Prediction] ringed out, warning me just in time for the garm to suddenly launch at me like a catapult!
Oh shit! Wind Blast!
I dodged it by blasting wind against my wings, to shoot myself to the sides, where I saw the matriarch descending back to the ground, only for those tendrils from before to catch up just in time to prevent fall damage.
She then used the momentum she had with her tendrils, letting them act like a swing to propel herself back into the air like a Mister Amazing Spiderdude! She was not willing to let me go at all! Was this some sorta joke? I wasn’t even safe in the skies?!
Burn the trees!
As drastic as that idea was, it had to be done. She was swinging around using the [Dark Tendrils], and I had the feeling she could keep this spider act up as long as she was persistent enough to chase me down.
The only path forward was to use [Spark Fire Breath] and have the one parallel minds shoot down fire spells. Four of them had to keep me flying, so it should be entirely possible for me to do this!
Let’s do this, girls!
Commencing my plan, Manager mind began shooting out strong spells once at a time. From [Flame Spear] to [Flame Explosion], fire began to ravage the whole area in an inferno. The ground was ravaged with spells breaking up pieces of the earth, terraforming this grassland of bones into a battlefield of destruction.
As more and more spells exploded and consumed the vegetation beneath, the area that the garm could move around decreased at a staggering rate, not slowing down as I burned through my mana like a madwoman. The garm didn’t falter while evading all of it. Suddenly, an idea appeared as my confidence surged from seeing her fun.
I could lure her into a trap.
Yes! That’s it, just a little bit more! Breathing in the smoke probably clouded my judgement at this moment, or a bit of arrogance was building up inside me from seeing how easily I burned everything down.
Regardless, my wish to escape disappeared. I honestly thought at this moment, I could kill her.
…
Now! Spark Fire Breath. Inferno Blast.
A stream of dragon fire submerged the area under me while [Inferno Blast] was cast consecutively to bomb the ground. Compared to the fight from earlier, I made sure to control the fire, making sure I was completely burning down everything, especially with whatever was in the middle of that nest.
I hope I got her with this…
With the smoke clearing, the answer to my question was a disappointing “No.” Dumbfounded that something so completely out of my expectations happened, a certain amount of fear and impatience began to creep up on me. I mean, there was nowhere to dodge, and I saw the ground under me being completely drowned in a sea of fire.
No way, no way. Why didn’t it work! Did I aim correctly? I must have missed but-but how. The whole area is on fire. No way did she dodged that.
In all my panic, a bolt of [Dark Bolt] came shooting up to me, nearly hitting one of my wings.
Ahhh! Sch-Schei-Scheiße, calm down wings, calm down!
No warnings. None of my skills activated at all.
But I couldn’t worry about that just yet. I needed to control my flying… and I needed to get my head back into the game. Gotta calm down. I even had to calm down my parallel minds as they started to go crazy from where that attack came from. My pride was just hurt!
When I stopped myself from crash landing, I healed my wings and darted my head around and around. [Detection Sensor] was showing nothing, but I knew she had to be here somewhere. No way would she—
Woah?!
Strong gust of wind suddenly blasted against my back, causing me to lose control again. It felt like a [Wind Blast]. No, it had to be that spell. And my suspicions were confirmed when I suddenly saw the matriarch with a green magic circle next to her. I had forgotten she could use [Wind Magic].
Flame Spear!
“Wrouuuuh!”
[Wind Slash] burst forward at me before a spear of red flames dispersed it and pierced through the air to attack the garm. However, she dodged and then began shooting more long-range spells at me. I thought she was crazy for doing this, but this had to be a sign she was weakening. A fire show was my type of game!
If she continues this casting speed, then her mana will run out earlier than mine I thought. I was really hoping that she was panicking, knowing she wouldn’t win an attrition war and make a mistake for me to take advantage of. It honestly sounded like the perfect bait to keep me around from my greed to win.
And it certainly was, the best bait she could have used.
…! From behind!
[Prediction] suddenly warned me of an attack.
Huh? What? There is nothing there. Woah! Scheiße, come on [Prediction] you can’t mess with me in this kinda situation. I have no room for errors!
[Prediction] warned me another source of killing intent, similar to the garm’s, was coming from behind me. However, there was nothing. The garm was still standing there in front of me, so how could it be possible? Could it be some kinda trick?
With this thought, I went ahead and used [Identify] to reassess her.
Identify.
____________________________
Spell List: Dark spells:
[Dark Bolt] [Dark Tendrils] [Shadow Dash] [Dark Slash] [Shadow Clones] [Shadow Snake]
[Enfeebling Winds]
Wind spells:
[Wind Bullet] [Wind Cutter] [Air Shield] [Wind Slash] [Swift Winds] [Wind Blast]
____________________________
And there it was. She had hid her spell list. I knew something was up when I saw her [Dark Magic Lv. 9] and [Wind Magic Lv. 6] without the correct amount of spells.
It was a fatal mistake, caused by all the panic I felt from this battle.
During this moment where the new information began streaming into my head, I also heard some rustling in a tree behind me.
Uh?! Spark…
A gleaming claw coated in a liquid appeared—
— and slashed at my back.
…Flame…Argh!!!
I didn’t know how she did it. All I knew was that she used [Shadow Clones] and substituted herself somewhere in time. She then climbed a tree behind me and ambushed me while my attention was pinned on the clone in front of me. She used her stealth abilities phenomenally. At least, that was what I guessed from all the evidence as I plummeted to the ground.
A sharp feeling of pain appeared on my back, only able to imagine how terrible the gash was. I was able to shoot out [Spark Flame] after getting hit but a sense of weakness surged within me. With my body having lost locomotion, and with the elevation I was upon being hit, my landing was nothing less but almost bone-crushing.
Still, somehow, I was able to hit the garm at the very last second.
Bufu…kurgh!
Why does…my body feel so weak?
Nothing wanted to move. My whole body was numb from whatever she used to do this to me. Was it an ability? No. This wasn’t the time to contemplate that. I need to use [Cure] to get rid of these abnormal effects.
[“You must use tools and toxi— No! Do not heal yourself right now!”]
Argh, go to hell! Cure. Urgh! Ahhhhhhhh.
Scheiße! My back! My back. What is this pain? Modest Heal! Uuraaaagahhhh!
< [Damaged Mana Path [Left Wing] (Minor)] inflicted on [Young Crimson Spark Dragon *]>
An unbearable pain came flooding through me from my left wing, where I could audibly hear something popping.
[“I have left a deep gash on your back, close to the wings… The ancestor told me you did not properly heal the mana paths in your rush.”]
…Urgh, the abnormal effects are gone, and I healed my lost health but why is [Damaged Mana Path [Left Wing]] not going away?! Modest Heal… What?!
The pain was gone, but the status effect isn’t going away!
[“What did you do to me?!”] I demanded an answer, which she replied to in a monotonous voice.
["I merely slashed your back. I sneak passed your senses and created an opening for a window of attack. If you mean the abnormal effects, then allow me to explain."]
With that said, she raised her right paw and showed some sorta green liquid. The fluid coated her claw, dripping some of it to the ground.
["This is a poison I have concocted. It is a mixture of three poison that each inflict paralyzation, drowsiness and health damage separately."]
[“You-You made that?”]
[“I saw human hunters soaking their projectiles with a poison they have created. I have used it ever since to grow and defeat beasts above my rank and status. Remember this, and teach my pup in my stead.”]
Human hunters? I saw on T.V. that some indigenous humans would coat their arrows with poison from animals in the area. Is this what she meant with “projectiles?”
[“Now…”]
Having answered my question, the garm continued the fight by disappearing into her shadow.
[Shadow Dash] again! I can’t dodge it! [Terra Wall]? No time. There really isn’t time to think. Just do something! Here she comes!
Come flames! Uhh… fire wall?!
I had no time to use [Imperial Hellfire] again, forced to create a firewall with all the surrounding flames. [Pyrokinesis] just saved my life here, as the garm’s advance was stopped.
Should buy me enough time.
Instead of using her claws and fangs, the garm resorted back to using spells to pierce my wall of fire. I just trapped myself in a small area, having to rely on [Prediction] to dodge.
‘We’re trapped in our own attack! We need to do something!’ #2 cried out in a panic, emphasizing the general hecticness my mind was in.
Your suggestion, then?!
‘I don’t think we’ve any choice left. [Imperial Hellfire]!’ #3 suggested, but I couldn’t help but find that absurd.
What?! She’s just gonna dodge it!
‘[Spark Fire Breath] to create more fire and then use that to do an [Imperial Hellfire]. Even if she dodges it, we have no other choice. We’re gonna die if we don’t try!’
Urgh. R.I.P forest.
With no choice left, I was persuaded.
Spark Fire Breath. Hopefully, I can jump high enough…
Please let this work…Imperial Hellfire!
‘‘‘Oh noooo!’’’
My parallel minds shouted in unison, voices filled with distress, as I started to feel some heat inside my body. Similar to a fever, it spread throughout my body, invoking nausea and internal pain. It felt like something was ripping me from the inside!
Shit! Arcane corruption! Too much!
It was the same ailment I received when the male garm chased me. I could still remember the pain. But I didn’t care. I had to endure it! Grit my teeth for this final moment!
Shooting myself into the air with [Wind Blast], my body suddenly began to shake violently as I began to push myself over my limit. Using as much Mana as I could afford, I expelled a flame breath into the air. I gathered this fire and the ones burning down the forest at this moment into a giant inferno ball right above my head.
At this very moment, I noticed my parallel minds couldn’t pour any mana into my left wing. The side that was injured. No pain was coming from it, but without my second wing to balance myself up, I couldn’t fly and started falling back to the ground!
Fuck it!
Relying on my parallel minds to soften my landing, I called the name of the spell and crashed onto the ground with the ball, creating a massive sea of flames! The forest might get burned again but this really wasn't the time to think about anything else besides survival. Green Peace would lynch me for this!
“Gawroooooh”
Huh? No way! Is that [Air Shield]? No way are you able to block all of this!
[Air Shield] was an extremely useful skill. It protected you not only from damage, but also sound and gasses, since the barrier was made from air. However, to maintain it, you had to continuously supply it with mana. No matter how good you were as a mage, being forced to use this spell to block a stream attack was suicide. After, [Arcane Fever] and [Mana Stress] was a mage’s eterna enemy.
You had to be insane to keep it up against my [Imperial Hellfire].
… And the garm matriarch was exactly that.
Bu-But why does it look like she can make it through this, too? Those eyes…those fucking eyes. WHY DO THEY LOOK LIKE SHE CAN HANDLE EVEN MORE!
The waves of flame continued on and on, but the matriarch simply kept the shield up. When I crashed on the ground, she began moving somewhere. I thought she wanted to escape, but she suddenly stopped where she was currently standing. Not an inch away.
She blocked the flames like a shield, diverting it away from whatever was standing behind her. She endured it all like a mighty boulder, undeterred by something as inconsequential as my fire. Until all that flame died out.
No way. No way. No way. No way. No way.
I can’t do this. I can’t do this. I can’t do this. I fucked up, again. I fucked up, again. I fucked up, again!
Everything was over. I was already losing Health due to [Arcane Fever] and moving my mana around my body felt like having rough sand coursing through my bloodstream, ripping tiny little scars along the blood vessels.
My strongest spell was repelled. Only cinders and the scorched marks on the grass was left behind. Everything was returned to ashes and dust… except the target I wanted dead.
With the shield dispelled, the garm looked no worse than in the beginning. The only scar… the only damage she received in this whole fight was a bit of sizzled fur on her belly when she attacked my back.
There is always someone better, huh…
[“Everything for my daughter… for my pack… for my family.”]
Useless. All I did was useless. Nothing I did meant anything. Struggle however I want, it won’t be enough to change the results.
[“Stand, dragon… You cannot?”]
How is ambition or hard work worth anything, if you just can’t do it? Try as you will, sometimes it just won’t work out. You stand up, you fall. You stand up again, you fall. You stand up, stand up, stand up, stand up…but you fail.
These thoughts ran through my head as my body lost all the strength it needed to continue this fight. The looming shadow of the garm as she approached me felt cold and terrible. I wanted to cry. I wanted to scream. But I couldn't. I didn't have the energy in my body anymore.
I was so tired. Soooo tired. Only adrenaline was keeping me awake at this very moment.
[“You fought well. You are strong. Stand, child.”]
Why are you encouraging me? Can’t you see that I have tried it over and over and over and over and over, again? It won’t work out this time. I am not as good as you. I am just gonna fail again.
A dark fog clouded my mind. All my failures of my two lives flashed before me, ending in a moment where I encouraged myself to go on. Was my mind telling me to continue? It was impossible, though. I was frozen in place by fear, exhaustion, and the sadness of my inability to best the garm.
[“If this is all you can muster then this is the end, young dragon.”]
Is this the end? Death… Will I once again fail? But I don’t want to. I don’t wanna! Move, body! Move! Please!
But my limbs were frail. The beating in my heart was so audible it sounded like a countdown.
P-Pleeease! Move!
The game came ever closer, but even in my last moment to somehow gather up the strength to move like in an anime, I couldn’t. I couldn’t move! Even if I tried to cast a spell, the pain assaulted my body like a knife. I squirmed around on the ground.
All I could do was wait for my death…
“Wru?”
… but it wouldn’t come today.
An explosion of blood and gore exploded in front of the garm. It was loud enough to wake me up from my melancholy to notice that the garm was missing a leg.
I widened my eyes, shocked as the garm fell face first onto the ground, covering it up in the ash. I was flabbergasted. What exactly happened?
…Identify.
_____________________________________
Name: * Level: 28 Race: Darkness Garm
Age: 9 Years
Status: Health: 243/5598 Mana: 0/3609
Strength: 2101 Intelligence: 1903
Vitality: 1602 Wisdom: 1409
Agility: 2701 Stamina: 0/3590
Effects: [Exhaustion (Critical)] [Bleeding (Critical)] [Stress (Critical)]
[Mana Stress (Critical)] [Arcane Fever (Critical) [Adrenaline (Major)]
_____________________________________
[Mana Stress (Critical)] … [Arcane Fever (Critical)] …What?
[“I-I seem to ha-have… use too much… mana.”] I could hear her wheezing even from this distance. I couldn’t properly process any of this information, so I just stayed silent.
[“This was not the ending I was…planning. I thought I could… hold on for a bit longer. I still have a ton more I wanted to show you. To help you survive, little whelp. I want to move”]
[“…”]
[“Come, child. Do not… give me that look… I was destined to die today. At least, I am able to, aahhhh, find a strong guardian for my pup. You are a strong child. Stand. Stand proud.”]
… Another explosion.
“Wrah! Wrooooo…”
[“Grrrrk! Grak… How regrettable…I wish to… apologize for this harsh training. Conflict steels both mind and body. Learn with the pain. Survive. Evolve. You are an otherworldler, so you must… grow strong.”]
Gritting my teeth from the use of mana, I sent a telepathic message to her. I wanted answers. [“You… What do you mean by that? Why are you speaking as if you are so familiar with me?”]
[“… As I said. My pup is a reincarnator just like you. She had a name when she was born. In the pile of my stillborn pups, she was the only one who cried. A miscarriage… and I would die for it.”] Sorrow was clear to be heard. Her emotions were even affecting me. [“So, please, promise me, reincarnator of the Goddess of Light and God of Dragons. Take care of my little pup. My last gift, to this world. Please listen to the words of this dying mother. She is… the last Belzac…”]
“Wroooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!”
With a howl similar to her partner, her heavily damaged body dropped onto the ground.
What?
I blinked. I blinked. I blinked. Nothing in my mind was even working properly right now. I fully accepted my death. But… I survived?
Right in front of me, the garm matriarch breathed her last. Her face crashed on the ground and her dead eyes were staring right into mine. No emotions were left in them. Voided of any semblance of the same beast who drove me down this far.
There is nothing to feel good about this sort of ending. I was defeated. I should have been the one to die. She should have been the one to survive for her baby’s sake.
Once again, a sound broke my melancholy. My attention returned back to reality to discern where it came from.
Whimpers?
The cries of a baby, no, that of a puppy. It forced my head up, to where it all came from. Right behind the garm’s body was the nest. In other words, at the very last moment, she sacrificed her life to protect her baby from my selfish attack. She knew she would die from her wounds, and she still pushed her body to the limits of her ability just for her child.
She…wanted me to look after the baby, right? The killer of her mother… looking after her infant? Pure nauseating irony… but …to the victor goes the spoils and, in my book, this win was hers.
I crawled towards the nest in the center of the area. My battle with the garm was devastating for the whole area. The only place that seemed normal, unharmed from anything I did, was this little nest for her baby. That fierce determination was to protect this child.
I moved close and took a peek.
“Wruf!”
Scheiße, I scared her! I flinched
I need to talk to her. Urgh…
At least with my level up, all the Health and Mana I lost was recovered, but [Arcane Fever] still hadn’t disappeared. Regardless, I had to push onwards.
[“Uhh, I’m sorry. Please don’t be scared. I am not here to hurt you.”]
Easier said than done, really. Imagine hearing that from a black-scaled dragon, after all the screams and explosions waking you up from your nap. And the first person you see weren’t your parents, but their killer.
Can she understand me? Telepathy should be able to convey my intentions but maybe she wasn’t old enough to fully grasp it. I should check her age.
Identify.
_____________________________________
Name: Saori Segawa Level: 0 Race: Young Warg
Age: 0 Month
Status: Health: 50/50 Mana: 15/15
Strength: 30 Intelligence: 10
Vitality: 15 Wisdom: 10
Agility: 35 Stamina: 40/40
Effects: None
Skill Points: 0
Skill: [Primal Senses] [Enhanced Claws Lv. 1] [Enhanced Fangs Lv. 1]
[Telepathy]
Title: [Belzac’s Successor] [Otherworldly Reincarnator]
_____________________________________
…! S-Saori?
[“Anata wa… osoraku, nihonjin-desu… ka?”] (Are you…, perhaps, Japanese?)
I instinctively talked in Japanese. My mother’s language.
“Wruf?!”
Wait, [Telepathy] pretty much translates my words. She wouldn’t be able to know I could speak Japanese, but she should be able to understand what I said thern…Then, why was I speaking in Japanese, then? For nostalgia’s sake?
[“I, too, am… a reincarnator. I died on earth and was reborn as a dragon in this world.”]
“Wruf?! Wroof!”
I could see her wagging her tail uncontrollably, with eyes showing fear but also confusion. I could relate. Being reborn into a weird world, with weird things, and in a weird body would cause anybody to ask thousands of questions.
[“Huh, what? I can’t understand you. Can’t you use your skill [Telepathy]?”]
“Wruf?”
[“You don’t? Uhh, to use it you just need to think and imagine sending a message to me. It feels like sending an E-Mail but through our thoughts… ah, please hold on! I will touch your paw with my tail, so please don’t be scared. I really am not here to hurt you.”]
Uhh, I nearly forgot that [Telepathy] consumed mana. She would probably kill herself if she used it with her current amount. With my control over my own mana, I was able to transfer some of it, through touch, over to somebody. It worked on the barracudas so it should work on wargs, right?
[“Ok, I am lending you a bit of my mana so try using [Telepathy] as I explained.”]
[“… Hello?”]
A voice! A soft one. A female one.
[“Yes, hello! Hello! How are you?!”]
I immediately replied when I heard her voice in my head. The excitement overwhelmed my actions. I was speaking with another person! It worked.
… However, from how she flinched back, I probably scared her. I should stay calm. [Arcane Fever] wouldn’t kill me if I don’t overuse my mana. Probably.
[“Oh, sorry for scaring you again, I didn’t mean to shout like that. Are you speaking Japanese, right now? [Telepathy] automatically translates what we say, so I believe you are understanding everything in Japanese, while I am understanding them in English.”]
[“I-I see…”]
[“Oh right, introductions! I am… You must be Saori Segawa, right? Or, uhm, Segawa Saori-san?”]
That felt a bit awkward, but what could I say? I couldn’t remember my name.
[“Yes, I am Segawa Saori… How do you know my name?”]
Hearing her confirm her name turned something on inside my head. I felt… happy. This might sound weird, but it felt like all the bad things that just happened, they just simply vanished.
I knew I couldn’t forget what happened, but in this moment, I felt as if the world was turning around in my favor. The darkness shrouding everything vanished. Like a light at the end of a tunnel. I wanted to grasp it. Hold it. Protect it.
[“There is a skill [Identify] that allows me to look at other’s profile. A profile is similar to a twitter profile screen.”]
Now that I think about it, wasn’t that kinda creepy?
[“Is that not an intrusion to the privacy of others…woah! Careful! Are you ok?!”] Saori cried out in worry as I fell onto the ground.
[“Urgh, the fatigue is getting to me now. I’m sorry but I think I need to go to sleep now…”]
My body finally gave in. Two battles I was not prepared for, both extremely taxing on both my mind and body, and in such a short time. The exhaustion itself wasn’t bad, I’ll probably wake up in a day, but what concerned me was this [Arcane Fever]. My Health recovered, but it was slowly decreasing, showing no signs of stopping.
[“Huh? Wait, please stop! You cannot sleep now. This whole situation is very vexing, and I need more answers like what this place is sup…”]
Before I finally succumbed to the heavy strains on my body, I erected an igloo made from [Terra Wall], took out a spare [Meat Paradise], and ignited a campfire with some spare wood I had in my storage. I gave out a yawn and then crashed into the garm’s nest, mind foggy and my strength depleted.
[“Whe-Where did this bowl come from?! How was this thing constructed?! Why is there a fire now?! Why…it is asleep… At least introduce yourself before you fall asleep. Unbelievable, first a giant wolf and now a giant lizard with wings? This just has to be a dream… right?”]
That was all I could hear until I slowly drifted off, once again entering a coma-like state. Before I fully lost my consciousness, I prayed. To nobody specific, I just dearly wanted somebody to hear this wish.
Please, I do not want to die yet. Not now, when I am finally not alone anymore. I will change and stop acting like a whiny little brat, so please! Please, let me live.
Garm Matriarch, if you can me. Please, grant me your strength one last time. So, I can uphold my promise to you.
AbyssRaven First Party Member, getto! Also, rest in peace, garm matriarch. You did your best to give your pup a better life.
