Dragon Sorcerer 1- Chapter 43 (Patreon)

Chapter 43- Confrontation

Neither of us knew anything about how to evolve a class for a human. For me, having a class at all was just a function of being in human form and Cami didn’t know anything more than stories she’d heard and the little bit Modessa had told her. Unsurprisingly, the stories were just about adventurers gaining glory and riches while saving the population rather than having any specific information.

With that in mind, we decided to go ask Lisella what she knew. She was the safe choice, since she was already on the inside. Cami really wanted to bring Modessa into the inner circle, but I was worried about it for obvious reasons. Just as we were about to go, there was a knock on the door to our room.

This was one of those times where I really missed my sense of smell. I’d likely be able to identify the various humans just from their scent. Even my weak nose had identified that Lisella had a particular perfume she usually wore just as an example. It was surprisingly alluring, which I chalked up to it having some sort of effect on my human biology in this form.

Cami moved to open the door, since it was her room. Well, technically, it was the cabin that she shared with Modessa, but since Lisella had kept Modessa on bed rest in her own cabin, we had taken to using it for our meetings.

When the door opened, I was shocked to see Modessa.

Cami sputtered as she tried to speak, “Modessa, what… uh… I mean, why are you knocking? This is your room, too.”

Modessa got a big grin. “I just didn’t want to walk in on anything. You two have been in there all night. Lisella released me to regular duty more than ten hours ago, but you haven’t left this room the entire time, either of you.” She said the last part with an arched eyebrow like it meant something significant. I was completely lost and even more confused when Cami’s face got red.

“No, you’ve got it all wrong. We were uh… just talking.”

“Talking, huh? I’ve heard more than one student call it that. Just make sure you know how to take the proper precautions. I’ve got herbs if you need them, cause the gods know I never seem to.”

“Really, you’ve got the wrong idea. I swear.”

Modessa closed one eyelid briefly in what appeared to be an intentional gesture aimed at Cami. “Well as your mentor, I’ll tell you that you should devote yourself to your studies and hold off on relationships until you are both older and more set in your path. But as a woman, let me just say, don’t miss out on a good thing.”

Cami was making some odd sputtering sounds as she protested before finally managing to get out. “I didn’t think you even liked Nico.”

“Well, it’s hard not to like someone who dives into the deep ocean to save you and gets injured in the process. Although, I have to say that was the oddest looking bite mark you had on your arm. It looked far more like a spear wound and a pretty odd one at that.”

“Is that your way of thanking me?” I asked.

She shrugged. “You’re right. I do owe you a proper thanks.” Then she bowed and said, “Thank you for saving me. I’m not sure if the team would have been able to rescue me otherwise. I still don’t know how I survived. They said I was underwater for almost ten minutes. Galbrecht was unconscious and Serius was trying to swap out a water breathing spell onto his active spell list for Liam to come rescue me. If it hadn’t been for you, I would have died.”

I nodded my head and said in my most magnanimous voice, “You’re welcome.”

Then she pulled the door shut as she stepped fully into the small cabin. “That said, I do have some questions. I keep having the oddest dreams and can’t really make sense of them. They feel so real, but it doesn’t seem possible that I saw what I thought I saw.”

I cursed under my breath. Temulara had made it seem like she was going to prevent Modessa from learning anything about my true nature, but then she’d allowed the woman to get just enough to drive her overly suspicious mind.

“That was probably just oxygen deprivation. I repeatedly cast Lesser Regeneration on you to preserve your body from breaking down. Humans don’t have enough brain cells to let any of them die. But Lisella said she wasn’t sure what impact the lack of oxygen would have on you even with the magic keeping you alive. That was why she kept you on bed rest for the past four days.”

“Right, and at first I was just grateful enough to be alive. But the longer I was lying around, the more I got to thinking. So, let’s say I believe that your spell kept me alive. That doesn’t explain how you survived under the water for over ten minutes, unless you’re now claiming that you have a water breathing spell. And it doesn’t explain the impression I keep getting of this wall of brilliant blue.”

I was unsure what to say. Something popped out of my memories. “Some people say that you see a bright light just before you die. Maybe you actually see a blue wall and that’s what it was, but you were pulled back at the last instant.”

Modessa sat down on Cami’s bed and pulled the girl down next to her. Cami seemed super uncomfortable and shrugged the rogue’s arm off of her. Modessa seemed shocked by that. “You’re pretty strong, considering. Don’t tell me you put all your stat points into Strength.”

Cami spoke through clenched teeth. “Nothing like that.”

The tension which was rising in my bonded companion had me on edge. I started thinking through options if this came to confrontation. Then I thought of the best course of action, but once I played it out, I’d either have to kill Modessa or hope we could reach some sort of accord.

I prepared to shift my claws and also tried factoring in where we were at. If worst came to worst, I could rip through the wood of the ship even with my human strength. Then if I transformed I could fly both Cami and I away. I would just need fifteen seconds to make that happen.

“What is it that you are saying?” I asked in one last attempt to diffuse the situation before my anger and desire to protect what was mine got the better of me. I had to be careful though, they had already captured Sheraleigh. Even if they weren’t murders, they were essentially slavers. I’d come to understand that they thought there was some pressing need for what they did, but I had zero forgiveness at the moment.

She looked at the wall as though she was completely relaxed, but I saw the way her body seemed tensed and ready to spring at a moment’s notice. I didn’t have any illusions that my Agility of 38 was going to be enough to be faster than her. I’d seen her in action before.

“You know, I came here ready to let this all go. I was just going to thank you, then ask you about the weirdness. If your answers were even semi-coherent, I determined to be thankful and just trust Lisella that you’re a good guy and not really a murderous wild mage just waiting to crack.”

Her voice trailed off, and I tensed. Cami closed her eyes. I expected she was preparing to cast one of her spells, but she’d never get it off quickly enough this close to the rogue. The first hint that she was casting a spell would push this to an immediate confrontation.

Then Modessa continued, “And even as light as some of your answers were, I would have let it go, except for that one thing you said. You probably don’t even realize what it was. You see when you have to question people as an unpleasant part of your job you learn to look for little details. You talked about humans and their brains like you aren’t a human at all. That’s the kind of talk I’d expect from a wild mage who sees nothing but experimental subjects around him, and I’ll be damned if I give you any more subjects to test your foul magics on.”

I stomped my foot as I stood, and the entire deck creaked. A crack ran from me forward under Cami’s bed and probably beyond the cabin, but I was too angry to notice. “That’s rich a kidnapper and slaver calling me rich. You people turned my life upside down and yet all I’ve done is save you. I saved Galbrecht from the horror and you from the ocean.”

She had a dagger in her hand at that moment. Without even trying, I projected my Dragon Fear into a tightly packed line straight at her. Some of it would hit Cami. They were too close together. It couldn’t be helped. I’d make it up to her later.

Your bonded companion is immune to your Dragon Fear.

Target has resisted Dragon Fear.

I screamed. No, she wasn’t going to get away. I willed the power to come out of me in even greater measure. She didn’t attack me and instead mumbled, “Dragon Fear? What are you?”

That moment of delay was all I needed. I pushed with all my will and was rewarded by a notification, which I immediately accepted.

Do you wish to increase Dragon Fear to level 2? Cost 2 DKP.

It settled into place and I saw how the skill was stronger, but still not enough. I pushed harder.

Target has resisted Dragon Fear.

Her shock wore off because she raised her dagger. Cami pushed against the woman’s side and that was enough to throw her aim off. Her dagger came down and glanced off my raised forearm as it rapidly transformed into blue scales.

I combined my draconic Sprint ability with my monk’s passive, Rapid Movement and pushed off against the floor with a Strength far beyond someone of my level. The wood splintered under my feet and I hit her head on. Modessa was driven into the wall and then right through it.

As we flew through the wall, I activated two more abilities.

Flurry Attack

Stunning Blow

The other side of the cabin opened into a storage area. Crates and barrels shattered until I stopped moving and her body was thrown against the side of the ship. The impact was so hard that cracks in the wood opened up and it sprung a dozen small leaks at once.

I couldn’t follow up on my attack even though she was mildly stunned. Blood was running down her face and arms from where my claws had cut into her and she would undoubtedly shrug off the debuff any second. She was a level 20, after all. But when I went to move, felt a wrenching pain and my legs didn’t want to obey my commands.

When I looked down, I saw a dagger shoved deeply into my chest. It must have nicked my spinal cord, but blood was gushing out far faster than her wounds. She was so good; I hadn’t even seen the blow coming. Despite being crashed through walls, she had managed to deliver a near-fatal blow. My HP were already down to sixty percent.

You are bleeding. 3 HP lost per minute.

You are heavily bleeding. 15 HP lost per minute.

You are critically bleeding. 75 HP lost per minute.

My mind wavered and the ability to cast magic seemed far away. As I relaxed, another of my monk abilities came to the forefront of my mind. A message about integration popped up, but I didn’t see it. All I knew was the feel of a monk ability I’d never used, yet somehow felt completely normal, as basic as flapping my wings.

Make Me Whole

A feeling of wellness… no wholeness surged up inside of me. What had been ripped asunder was pushed back together, or mostly. The effect could only heal forty percent of my total health, which pushed me back up to just over ninety percent after the continuing bleed effect. More importantly, because it restored the completeness of my body it also stopped the bleeding, mostly.

Bleeding debuff reduced to normal. 3 HP lost per minute.

Sadly, the two seconds it had taken to activate his monk ability was enough for Modessa to start to come to. She choked on some blood and her mouth was open for an instant. I reacted on instinct, as my abilities were coming more naturally to me. It was almost as though the more I was drained and pushed to my limits, the more I was able to operate without my mind slowing me down.

With a snap of my will, I opened my soul space and activated an ability I hadn’t used but which once again felt all too natural.

Manipulate Sand

I smiled as I felt steady stream of stand pour out of my soul space. It responded to my wishes and flew through the air exactly as I wished. Controlling this much was easy, and I felt with enough practice I might be able to level up the skill without even having to use DKP.

To call it a jet of sand would be overly generous, but it did what I needed. It filled Modessa’s mouth and nostrils. The shock of that following just recovering from being stunned dropped her to her knees. Shadows started to form around her and I could see them lengthening and getting thicker. My sand started to have trouble getting through.

I pushed off again and slammed into the barrier. It rippled and bent under my strength. She gagged on the sand and couldn’t respond. I saw her pulling a dagger out and I ripped at the shadow with my claws.

“No! Nico, don’t kill her,” Cami shouted from behind me.

Then a golden light appeared between me and Modessa. It dispelled her shadows, but stopped my claws just as much. I dared to look back over my shoulder and saw Lisella standing next to Cami. That must have been where she went. She ran and got the priestess. The look in my mentor’s eyes wasn’t the normal proud look. Instead, I saw fear and pleading in her eyes, and the dragon within me was delighted.