Arc | Chapter. 115: Display of Knowledge (Patreon)

Chapter. 115: Display of Knowledge

Meika gulped, confused and shocked at what Faral had just said. She wasn’t even sure if she had heard right. She looked down only to realize she was slightly shaking.

“You are… joking right?” she asked.

“Do I seem like the type of person to make jokes?” Faral asked.

Meika let out a breath, the answer very much clear in her mind.

“No…”

Her mentor nodded. “I understand this trial seems out of reach, but Meika, you’re a dragon now.” Faral turned to her. “Which is why there are expectations to fulfill.”

“But these expectations are… nigh impossible.” Meika took a deep breath. “It is unreasonable…”

“Unfortunately, my mind is set,” Faral said simply. “If you want to continue to be under my wing, then this is the only step.”

“And if I fail?”

“I will no longer be your mentor,” she explained once more. “That is all.”

“So my changes…” Meika shifted. “Are they permanent?”

“They are.” Faral agreed. “But I hope I can continue to teach you regardless, however I do want to make sure this is a worthwhile endeavor. Even though I’ve never mentioned it; I have a great responsibility on my shoulders.”

Meika listened to her mentor and slowly nodded.

She didn’t know how she felt about things. Meika wanted to keep arguing, but she understood that it would go nowhere; that Faral, the Dragon of Wind had made up her mind. So, that just left her with accepting reality; accepting that things weren’t going to change and that she just had to make the best out of things.

That said…

Coming out uninjured?

That was something that was nigh impossible, at least she felt that was the case. It wasn’t as if she was using her class during training with Faral. Not at all. Though training had been an incredibly valuable experience that should help her. The question was whether she could actually execute or not.

Meika took a deep breath.

Perhaps thanks to her class, she had a chance…

She wasn’t a warrior, or anything like that thankfully. Though at this point Meika was confident in filling the role of one. Instead, she was a [Rogue Swashbuckler], a class that mainly specialized in nimbleness and backstabbing; yet not an assassin. She preferred to use a sword rather than a dagger due to the extended range.

Still, to think she never used her class during training…

But thanks to that, she had grown a lot stronger. Not using her class for anything had made her much stronger. Her class wasn’t even meant to take hits to begin with… Meika of course, still nervous but thinking along those lines gave her a false sense of confidence that she intended to use.

She was a dragonkin⁠, she was the disciple of the Dragon of Wind, and she was a [Rogue Swashbuckler]; all of those factors calmed her nerves as her eyes narrowed looking into the cave.

“So, are you ready?” Faral asked.

Meika hesitated but nodded after a moment.

“I am.”

“Good, then go.” Faral smiled. “I shall await your victorious return.”

Those words gave her even more confidence as Meika began to walk into the cave, now more ready than ever. It was all or nothing.

Meika grabbed a stone from her pouch and attached it to her shoulder as it began to produce light.

She didn’t even know what kind of enemies awaited her inside of the cave, but it didn’t matter.

She just knew one thing and one thing only.

Kill them before they can react.

⁠◇ ◇ ◇

Meika traversed for a minute and she saw her first enemy⁠—

[Krutal Ibak. Tier: A]

She blinked⁠— she had [Appraisal] now?

The twisted creature hissed at her, it was something that resembled a horse but with a curved and spike lined back. Horns sat atop of its head, and on its back a large tail with a balled and spike end resided. She had never even seen this monster before, or heard of it, but one thing was for certain.

It was A Tier.

An entire Tier higher than her. A beast that wasn’t easily killed. But she had no choice.

Meika gripped onto her sword with great strength, her muscles bulged and the beast’s spiked back rattled. The harrowing sound echoed before it immediately spun and shot⁠— a salvo of projectiles was immediately fired in her direction but Meika just gripped her sword tighter and called.

“[Flash Step].”

In a single moment she appeared behind the Krutal Ibak, her feet already recoiling as she jumped into the air. Her sword at the ready as she called; her weapon already shining as she felt stronger than ever.

“[Momentum Blow] and⁠— [Backstabbing Slash].”

And she swung⁠—

With a flash of light she hit the back of the monster and blood exploded across the room; the crescent slash flashed over the ground as the rock broke; all while a shriek echoed inside the cave. Meika landed on the ground as she blinked in confusion.

Entrails were splattered, the monster had been cut into two halves as she processed what just happened.

Then, the system notification came.

[ You have defeated: Krutal Ibak. Tier: A. ]

[ You have leveled up. ]

[ You have leveled up. ]

…

Finally she understood what had just happened. The remains of the A Tier being loitered around her, its two halves perpendicular to one another as she just stood between them.

She had killed the Krutal Ibak in a single hit.

Sure, she had used [Backstabbing Slash], an attack that would do a tremendous amount of damage if it was in the blindspot of the opponent. Not only that, but her class also offered the passive skill [Sweet Spot] which essentially doubled that damage. But even doing essentially four times the damage of [Momentum Blow]…

Killing an A Tier being in a single hit…?

It seemed ridiculous.

And yet, it had happened.

She stared at the blood on the ground before looking at her hands. Her skin had become slightly paler, not only that but she had scales too. She stared at her rather sharp nails as she closed her fist.

“I guess I really am a dragonkin now…” She sighed. “What would my parents even say if they saw me?”

She had no answer for that.

She turned to the depths of the cave, where the blue light of the Fire Stone didn’t seem to reach.

There more A Tier enemies awaited her.

She had easily disposed of the Krutal Ibak, so Meika felt hopeful and confident. However, that didn’t mean that she had to let her guard down, and so she activated the skill [Sense Danger]. She was sure that this challenge wasn’t as unreasonable as it seemed.

Meika took a deep breath and just as she was about to step forward⁠— she ducked.

A volley of spikes flew overhead and a moment later a cacophony of roars echoed through the tunnel. The ground began to shake as she took a deep breath.

Of course it couldn’t be easy…

And then, she saw the stampede that was coming her way; a dozen of them.

[Krutal Ibak. Tier: A]

[Krutal Ibak. Tier: A]

[Krutal Ibak. Tier: A]

…

* * * * *

In the end; I had dragged Regis’karr to a far away place. I decided to make Malz stay along with Ceylon; even though that had upset the both of them. But I didn’t pay it too much mind as I instead focused on my biggest priority.

I turned to Regis’karr as we stood on top of a mountain.

“Alright, show them to me now.”

He shifted. “I’ve been thinking about it… and I don’t think I can attack you just like that Arc…”

I raised my brow. “Who said anything about attacking me?”

Regis’karr paused. “You don’t want me to fight you?”

“No.”

I felt some level of annoyance at the fact that Regis’karr had made such an assumption, but thinking about things perhaps it made sense. After all, I was known as the ‘battlejunkie’ by him and probably by a lot of people too. So, I let out a breath as I decided to properly explain.

“I just want you to use your skills, the ones that have sentences of incantations. If you explain them it could be helpful; but in summary:” I met his gaze. “I just want to observe.”

He blinked.

“Okay, I can do that. Any skill you’d like to see first?”

“No.”

Regis’karr nodded in response.

“Okay, then let’s do the first one I ever used against you.” Regis’karr began. “The incantation is; My Fire, My Heart, My Soul, Unleash an Everlasting Purgatory.”

I nodded and he coughed.

“Normally, skills have much different incantations; such as Malz’s: My Crown, My Reign & My Darkest Behest… but mine are different.” He shook his head. “Mine focus on building a concept rather than making a statement as do a lot of other SS Tier skills.”

“Okay.”

That was interesting enough for me to be even more interested. Which he seemed to notice so he carried on with his explanation.

“As the skill I mentioned, first it focuses on my flames; I’m the Dragon of Flames. Then my heart; arguably the hottest part of my body. And then, there is my soul; what gives me life and what is attuned to the flames. All of them are combined to…”

He coughed awkwardly.

“Unleash an Everlasting Purgatory…”

“Couldn’t the end be, Unleash the Strongest Flames, or something?” I decided to ask.

“Well, while I did make the skill… it’s not as simple as that…” He shook his head. “It needs a certain visualization that I couldn’t achieve with anything else; a certain concept. Much like SS Tier skills.”

“I see. Is this skill SS Tier?” I asked.

“Ha, no.” He chuckled. “It’s at the peak of S Tier. But as the Dragon of Flames it gets slightly boosted to be able to cause actual damage to those of the SS Tier.”

“I see.”

And then I began to think.

I didn’t expect Regis’karr to be so talented in magic or anything; or learn anything. But it seemed I was wrong. His skills were… peculiar. Not only did they have the longest incantations I had ever seen, they were also considerably more destructive than anything in the S Tier. It was… interesting.

At the same time, it was somewhat similar to my own skill, [Frost, Stasis, Eternity and a Prophecy], where it didn’t necessarily state a concept, but rather it built upon each word to make more.

So, in comparison to other skills I couldn’t learn from such as Playground of Frozen Nightmares, Regis’karr’s repertoire was something I found interesting.

“Alright, now use the skill.”

He nodded. “Is it fine if I aim it at the sky?”

I thought for a moment before shaking my head.

“You cannot, especially not with a bunch of dragons running around.”

“What’s this about dragons?” Regis’karr asked. “I do remember hearing something but⁠—”

“I’ll explain later.” I sighed. “For now, don’t finish your skill or something. Let me see the build-up part.”

He nodded.

Regis’karr pointed in no particular direction as he began. “[My fire…]” His voice rang clear as the mana gathered around his body. “[My heart…]” The effect amplified. “[My Soul…]”

It coalesced for a few moments before he lowered his finger and it dispersed. Regis’karr let out a deep breath before he coughed and⁠— I saw blood.

“Was that good?” he asked.

“Yes, but why are you bleeding?”

He chuckled. “Well surely you can’t force the system to build something greater and interrupt it without repercussions. The power that was being built up, erupted within my body for lack of a better word.” He smiled. “That was my discovery.”

“Your discovery?”

“That is right.” He grinned, now proud. “Across all the land, no one else that I know has created an S Tier skill this way. A skill that uses the very concepts of the System to grow stronger.”

I nodded. This time taking him much more seriously as I found myself gaining a newfound respect for Regis’karr.

“Show me and explain to me the rest of the skills, you can fire them into the forest if you want.”

He nodded and continued to explain his other skill, all while I paid him my utmost attention.

With this I’ll be able to create an SS Tier skill…