"Aria!"
Watching the snake attack her I quickly pushed off the ground tossing away the large leaf, Aria was a couple meters away while the snake was high up on the tree having to cross multiple times the distance, thoughts passed in an instant.
'I can make it!'
"Ah!"
Ren pushes Aria down in a hug as the pair tumble across the ground moments later a loud bang resounds as the snake missing the pair hits the ground instead.
As Ren and Aria pick themselves up they look at the area where they had just been, the last rays of sunlight finally extinguishing as light shimmers the trees in their view start to emit an iridescent glow of various colors.
Could it have been an effect of the mana in the area? They did not know but what they did understand was it allowed them to see the monster in all its glory.
Obsidian scales akin to a pitch black armor curled up on the ground revealing little of its white belly, its eyes in total glowing a dull scarlet, on its head two goat like horns twisted glowing with magic.
But even all of that was not the most eye opening, it was instead the size of the snake, its head although smaller than the egg it ate was nearly 3 meters in size. Its body curled up on the ground was seemingly endless in size but there was an end to the monster.
A window popped up in their view while observing the monster.
|Snake|
'That's a hatchling!? Dark element? It's large so we will need to find cover then.' Ren thought in surprise.
'It's blind then how did it see me? Did it use sound instead? No, it looked direct at me. Is this thing really telling the truth?' Aria contemplated.
Though unlike a fully grown dragon it was wingless at the end of the dragon was a tail with a rock-like spiked protrusion, a protrusion that was raised up in the air as the monster glared leaving the two no time to think.
'A mace?!'
'Tail attack!'
The thought occurred to the both of them as they started to run.
"Use the trees as cover!" Ren yelled.
*BAM*
The mace-like tail crashed into the trees they dashed behind a of the dragon, sneaking a peak that stared as the tree nearly decades old and a dozen meters in height started to fall. Ren stared wide eyed as Aria stared silently pointing at an area ahead.
"Over there!"
As they both ran into an area Aria pointed at, the dragon didn't let up, hitting many trees in their path until one fell on top of them. Was the dragon being reckless?
Soon the trees around them fell with the rain, Ren scanned the area noticing what the dragon was doing,
'Why is it boxing us in? No… it's just hitting randomly, is it because of its blindness? Trees that the dragon had no reason to hit were falling.
It was large and quick so quick in fact that Ren believed they were already dead when it first laid eyes on them. They were only level 5 after all compared to a beast that was an absurd level 120. Why they were not the dragon's dessert already was astounding.
Aria stared at the window thinking about the implications of the description. The dragon was blind but how could it have seen her, theories surface but most were shut down before a conclusion was made.
'Can it only see mana? But even so, how is it not getting distracted by the mana in the trees? It may be able to filter it. Even if that isn't the case.'
Aria stared at Ren who was pulling her by the hand through the rain, his pale complexion contrasted with his determined eyes looking around. His exhaustion was mounting, especially so for someone with the [Sickly] condition.
[Just leave him.]
A soft voice, her inside voice whispered in the back of her mind.
[Look how determined this boy is, from caring for you to pushing you away from the dragon and now pulling you along, he seems to want to keep you alive. I mean, can't you use him to your advantage?]
[Especially after he exhausted himself carrying you]
Aria frowned at her thoughts pulling her to their meeting at the Stream.
…
"I have no comment."
After my theorizing about Ren's past were caught, we continued to move in silence,
I stare at the back of his head as my thoughts go to the Condition window, on it were parts she took note of especially under the lasting tab that being "-???" and "█ █ █ █ █", though not with "-???" a window appeared whenever she thought about "█ █ █ █ █" .
|Reveal|
Staring at the window, Aria thought the word internally,
'Yes.'
[Condition of "First meeting" met for █ █ █ █ █ to be revealed]
[User Ren's █ █ █ █ █, has changed to….]
…
|Lasting Condition|
Rain now heavy pours soaking the pair as they continue to run weaving through the dense forest trees, Akin to thunder the sound of the trees breaking grows closer and closer as the dragon starts to catch up despite the sheer density of the trees.
'Insanity… selflessness'
[That's right, the boy is manaless so the dragon believes there is only one of you, so kick him! Push him into its jaws and while the dragon believes it has eaten you run!]
'There isn't a guarantee that the dragon will stop and… I…..I would be betraying him'
[Isn't that how we've always lived? Mother and master or the billions affected by corruption whether it is Earth or the world Solaris, we lived through their sacrifice so what is another one gone?]
'That is different.. they willingly did it.', Aria's eyes turn cold.
[Willingly? Willingly!? Stop making excuses, you know as well as I do that they did those things because you weren't good enough, you were resolved enough!]
[Weren't we betrayed by our comrades, our family? Is it so wrong if you betray this boy?]
'But he isn't involved with them and..'
['And'..?! You can't find happiness if you die here right? So do it! Do it to preserve our life!]
The voice was right, using Ren as bait could give her time, what's to say that Ren wouldn't do the same thing and leave her to die.
'Selflessness, can I even trust this?'
Her eyes shook, staring at the back of Ren's head as they continued to move, memories of her past flashed,
Images of a sickly woman on a hospital bed and a witch with blonde hair appeared in her mind. They were important people in her life and they taught her many things,
Similarly at the end they mostly told her to be happy and forget about them.
'But they hurt me more than anyone could have'
They wanted her to be happy and forget them yet they left her in pain when they departed.
'Or maybe I'm the one in the wrong'
Was it so wrong to feel the need to survive, would these thoughts change now she lived a new life?
[Stop thinking and kil-]
'No, I won't do that.'
[...]
The voice turned silent than amused at Aria's declaration,
[You won't? But if we don't you'll die you know?]
'I can't be happy betraying someone like I was'
[Sentimental fool]
'Hmm we're the same person, didn't you already know I was going to say this?'
The voice stopped talking and didn't answer after all it was still her in the end.
"Ren"
She called out to the person pulling her, turning Ren's pale face covered in sweat and rain water looked back,
"What?!"
"It's sees only mana"
"Because it blind , right?"
Aria nods affirming his thoughts,
"I won't run, so hold on", Ren said sternly
Aria blinked before a slight smile appeared on her lips
'Is he reassuring me?'
"Even if I use all my mana until exhaustion the remnants of mana will still be seen."
Aria had thought of using mana until exhaustion but even if she did her body would still emit tiny amounts of mana that couldn't be hidden.
'If I had an invisibility spell maybe… or even an attack spell'
'If this is like the game every 30 levels is a rank, that means the dragon is rank 4 while we are rank 0.'
So even with an attack spell a level 5 rank 0 couldn't kill the level 120 3 ranks higher. But she could at least distract the dragon,
Aria looked up at the thunderous clouds, A feeling she had felt long ago at the beginning of life before Game Witch's Wandering and on Earth,
'I want to live.'
Realizing they had no other options Aria started rummaging through her bag,
Running the pair eventually found themselves on a cliff trapped the dragon approached, the fact they made it this far was crazy with the eggs the dragon ate early playing a part in slowing it down. Ren stared down at the steep drop with a serious expression taking in the beautiful glowing forest one last time,
"We can't go any further", He said plainly
Aria soon took out a bottle from her bag filled with an unknown liquid,
"A Mana potion?"
"Yes, or at least I think so, but I don't know how much it will restore"
A window, the Atlas popped up as she said those words
[Mana Potion]
-Tier 4
-Quality: Excellent
-Time: 30 seconds
[Regenerates mana at a rapid pace]
The two stared at the Atlas, Ren frowned
"You! Why didn't you use this earlier?!"
"I didn't know.", Aria said without expression, she felt little shame
The magnifying glass didn't give Aria much hope of the quality of her equipment and supplies causing her to ignore the potions in addition the Atlas didn't activate until she met Ren so she didn't know what her items did, during that time she was busy figuring out what the Atlas even was.
Aria drank the potion as Ren was manaless, Aria and Ren stared at the dragon's slowly rising body.
[Mana Potion effect: 29 seconds]
The countdown started as Aria raised her staff at the dragon, there were many ways things that could be done with mana but that only if a person could use it in the first place,
'What I need to do is clear'
Golden light scattered from the tip of the staff, the motes of light danced in the falling rain, Ren stared at the sight before focusing on the dragon, his breath heavy from exhaustion and running he took out his dagger in preparation for a battle.
'I'm too weak to fight using the sword', the thought was clear from his physical health,
The motes of light gold in color shone brighter and brighter contrasting the dark rain it was an amount much more than when she first emitted magic,
[Mana: 20/40]
[Mana: 12/40]
[Mana: 2/40]
Aria's mana reached into the single digits before
[Mana: 40/40]
Going right back up, As the light increased in mass she thinly spread it as far as she could to capture all the elements in the space.
There were many ways to use elements, directly using the elements outside was reserved for a higher level of power one that she didn't have at the moment, but what she wished to do was not complete control of outside elements but instead guide the outside elements into her favor.
'It's like using a boulder to crush someone, I can't just lift a boulder, I'm too weak, it would be easier to push it onto a person from above.'
Though either option was still difficult regardless it was much easier to do the latter than the former, what Aria was doing now was resonating her magic with the various elements and to find what she had an affinity for,
'Trying to find something I can control. A boulder I can push. That is affinity!'
A voice echoed in her mind,
[Can you really do it? Why are you trying? You couldn't even save people from corruption. What right do you have to hope for success here?]
'Shut it'
The voice merely snickered in response,
The falling rain, the strong winds, and the threat of death were things around Aria yet she continued to cast seemingly unobstructed, unhindered and unbothered,
Her mind drifted, feeling an emotion different from the desperation she felt in Solaris, this feeling she had felt throughout her life and that was doubt.
'Can I really do it?'
[Hehe, are you really doubting yourself after telling me to shut up?]
Aria ignored the voice as the light continued to scatter; she looked ahead at Ren standing in front of her.
'His eyes are…'
Ren's eyes, a deep blue color similar to the ocean, stared at the dragon without flinching, in his hand a dagger his hair and cloak completely soaked yet he was still standing with a fierce determination against the dragon unflinching even to the loud thunder around them.
'Why do you trust me?'
The thought occurred to Aria, Ren could have stayed back and observed yet he stood waiting for an opportunity to attack with his back facing her,
'You truly are…'
She smiled shaking off her thoughts as magic continued to spread
[Mana Potion effect: 10 seconds]
Aria focused ever further her mind running calculations slowly but precisely, the light expanded further and further before changing hues causing Aria's eyes to widen,
The most basic affinities were fire, water, earth, air.
'I can't fire right now'
'The Rain Water doesn't connect'
'I been touching the ground the entire time so Earth element is out'
'I resonated!'
Her mana spread into a vibrant golden light was not a took on whitish crackling aspects akin to that of..
'Lightning branching off from Air.'
[Element Found!]
[Lightning Skill Tree unlocked]
[Skills points acquired]
[Unlock locked skills]
[Never give up]
A smile formed on her face as she raised the staff high pointing at the sky while simultaneously looking at the skill tree. Its format was similar to the game Witch's Wandering. The first skill unlocked automatically being,
[Tier 0: Lightning Emission]
It allowed her to discharge electricity but that wasn't an attack skill. Instead she looked at the branches that went out from the base of the skill tree. Quickly she tapped unlock on one of the skills she recognized.
[1st tier skill Lightning Rod unlocked!]
[Lightning Rod: Guide the natural elemental lightning]
She activated the spell without hesitation,
[1st Tier Spell: Lightning Rod!]
A large swirling orb mana gathered at the tip of her staff as her mana was rapidly drained, but the element of lightning gathered at her staff it started to attach other wild elements,
Aria shook her head,
'The spell is rudimentary, I can't gather every single wild lightning strike but I don't need to! I just need enough to scare it off,'
Rank 4 creatures were of similar level to the thunderstorm, although she couldn't kill the creature it was still possible to make it believe we aren't worth eating.
'The only problem is I can't use all the lightning, only a fraction of it.'
A large flash of light as the sound of thunder resounded, light from the dark clouds fell upon the dragon causing it to roar fiercely,
KAHHHHHHHH
[1st Tier Spell: Lightning Rod!]
Thunder sprayed everywhere destroying the landscape as Aria continued to cast and cast until her nose bled and her body turned numb.
[1st Tier Spell: Lightning Rod!]
[1st Tier Spell: Lightning Rod!]
[1st Tier Spell: Lightning Rod!]
[1st Tier Spell: Lightning Rod!]
[|Condition| Mana Burnout acquir-]
[1st Tier Spell: Lightning Rod!]
She didn't stop even when the Atlas warned her she wished to make her magic last as long as possible to be as effective as possible, her body emitted steam and through the spells the dragon was stunned for a few moments, Seizing the opportunity Ren threw the dagger with all his might into the eye of the beast.
GRAAAAAAAAWRR
Dragons typically protected their eyes with magic but it seemed this hatchling hadn't learned to do so yet.
It roared even louder flinging its mace like tail wildly without care heading straight for Aria from the left,
Reacting fast Ren pushed back holding Aria unsheathing his sword in a reverse grip touching the flat of the blade to his elbow using it like a arm guard.
Upon contact the metal warped, Ren pushed the blade down into the ground with all his might as they were launched to the edge of the cliff barely avoiding the fall.
Ren looked at Aria who fainted, steam poured out of her body as blood poured from her mouth and noise, Ren then checked his condition with his blue eyes now duller than before.
'My arm is broken, the shoulder as well, I heard my ribs pop, and my head is ringing… a concussion perhaps, my foot…'
Looking down with a scowl Ren found his foot twisted unnaturally but he was thankful it was only dislocation.
Looking back up he sighed toward the direction dragon who shaking off Aria's attack like it was nothing approach slowly,
He sighed wistfully would he die in the rain at night in a place he didn't even know, though he had those thoughts Ren merely smiled lightly,
'Is this really the en-'
His thoughts were cut short as he spotted something in the sky, a large shadow flying amongst the clouds cutting through them at a rapid pace towards their destination, His eyes widened,
'No.. There is always a way out…'
Ren pulled out his sword sheathing it and looked down scanning the area and spotting a pool of water under the cliff, he smiled chuckling as the Dragon opened its mouth, Ren pushed off the ground Aria in tow jumping down the cliff.
The dragon wouldn't let them escape though, it extended its body over the cliff's edge about to eat them mid air.
Then suddenly a bird's screeching sound resounded all across the forest as a heavy mystical pressure pressed on the Obsidian hatchling causing it to pause and look up.
Ren stared at what descended from the clouds, when it revealed itself,
Rain stopped falling,
Thunder turned quiet,
The wind paused making way for the arrival of this creature.
Of this deity.
Holding Aria who woke up from the sound, they both stared looking up at the thing that covered the sky, its shadow darkening night even further yet shone brightly as if the sun had pierced through the thunder clouds and they could only describe the bird, its orange sunlike eyes and its brown feathers shimmering various colors with one word.
'Colossal'
|Colossal Bird|
The mountain sized Roc easily eclipsing the dragon was double its level but more than 10 times its size, like a mountain with wings one of its two talons stomped on the dragon's head pinning it to the cliff instantly destroying the part they had just jumped from.
The Roc then opened its beak tearing the off the head of the dragon causing a dull red blood to pour incessantly. The dragon instantly died as it was torn apart by the Roc like a worm being eaten by a bird.
Ren and Aria watched with amazement as they continued to fall towards the water.