Chapter 68: The Reward
Brian’s corpse fell to its knees, his body still spasming as it toppled to the ground with a loud thud.
"No!" Cassie screamed in despair. As a healer, she tended to take the loss of her comrades the hardest.
"One down." The dragonkin licked his jaws, his eyes settling on her next.
With the archer down, the next most obvious target was the party’s healer.
"Don’t come any closer!" She yelled in protest, ready to use her staff as a weapon.
"Focus on me!" Winston cried, colliding against the monster like a cannonball.
Under normal circumstances, he wouldn’t have been able to catch up, yet Leonard’s War Cry skill had slowed the monster just enough.
"Out of my way!"
The dragonkin’s throat glowed as it unleashed a deadly inferno.
Left with no other option, Winston took cover behind his shield. The powerful flames heated up its surface, burning the skin on his palms.
"Ugh!"
Winston bit his lower lip to keep himself from letting go.
Elizabeth attacked with her ice spikes once again. Because the projectiles were fragile and shattered on impact, she aimed for the two wounds Leonard had carved into the creature’s scales.
"Leave him alone!"
Leonard himself wasn’t far behind. He reached the monster and used Lightning Strike.
Now that his lightning affinity was boosted thanks to his Thunder Blessing trait, the attack shocked the dragonkin, forcing it to halt its inferno breath. On top of that, the subtle hemorrhage status was applied, though it was still too weak to cause any major damage.
Valor and Joker attacked simultaneously, adding to the mounting pressure on their adversary.
Harley and Russell were the fastest fighters in the party. Using their agility to gain the upper hand, they circled around the dragonkin, slashing and stabbing wherever they spotted a vulnerability, eager to exploit it.
After Brian’s death, they didn’t want to suffer any more casualties. Even losing a single additional member of their party was going to break their formation, and Cassie’s healing skills had already saved several of them.
"You stubborn lizard! Die already! Die!"
Leonard didn’t hesitate to abuse his Dragon Slayer skill whenever he was given the chance.
Each time he conjured the silver javelin, he felt his vigor drain alongside his dwindling mana.
Although the mana potion he had been given clearly helped, it didn’t recover his energy through natural means. It had the side effect of causing awakeners to become dizzy, making it unwise to consume too many.
[Mana: 320/760]
Nevertheless, he ignored the aching in his body, slowly wringing the dragonkin with holes.
Although ferocious, the monster remained smart and elusive, making sure that Leonard’s attacks never came too close to its heart or head, which would have killed it instantly.
The dragonkin swept with his claws, carving through flesh. But every time someone was injured, the party increased the pressure they exerted on the enemy while Cassie healed the wounded.
"Fall!"
Leonard sent another javelin flying, embedding it into the monster’s leg.
[Mana: 180/760]
"If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t have been pushed this far!" The dragonkin roared.
Despite everything, Leonard had consistently remained the biggest thorn on the monster’s side, never failing to hit his mark with his Epic skill.
At this point, the dragonkin believed that if it was going to die, it might as well take Leonard down with him!
Forsaking self-preservation, the monster staggered the party just long enough to pass by them and lunge toward him.
"Leonard!" Harley screamed at the top of her lungs, too slow to reach him in time.
"Bro!" Winston’s face grew pale. He tried to use Taunt, yet there was no effect whatsoever!
With death nearing, Leonard grew unnaturally calm, remembering Ragnar’s words about how he should remain unwavering even in the most stressful situations.
In calmness, there was clarity, and that clarity brought the chance for victory.
Rather than retreating backward, Leonard shocked the party as he stepped forward. His erratic heartbeat reminded him that a single misstep will cause his demise.
’Not yet.’
He watched as the dragonkin closed in, his jaws opening wide, capable of crushing human heads with ease.
’Not yet.’
If Leonard were to dodge to the side, the monster could always put an end to him with a sweep of his claws or a breath of fire. Yet because the dragonkin had grown irritated over the prolonged battle, it sought to finish him off in the most brutal way imaginable, biting off his head.
’Now.’
When Leonard judged the moment right, he didn’t hesitate to unleash Dragon Slayer.
Thanks to their close proximity, he was able to drive the javelin deep into the monster’s skull with surgical precision. The tip emerged from the other side and pierced its brain.
The dragonkin collided with Leonard a second later, yet his eyes had long since grown dull, and his body had grown motionless, leaving behind nothing but a corpse.
[You have defeated a Level 30 Corrupted Dragonkin.]
[All gained experience and Evolution Points have been doubled!]
[You have defeated an enemy three times your Level!]
[In recognition of your exceptional achievement, you have been granted 10,000 Evolution Points!]
[You have gained 4,000 Experience!]
Level: 10 [Experience: 1,500/1,500]
[You have risen to Level 11!]
Level: 11 [Experience: 1,800/1,800]
[You have risen to Level 12!]
Level: 12 [Experience: 700/2,200]
[You have gained 30 Attribute Points and 300 Evolution Points!]
Leonard was left gasping for air as he was flooded with notifications about managing to rise to Level 12, along with the large number of Attribute Points and Evolution Points he had been granted.
With all the new skills and traits he had acquired ever since entering the Void, plus his ability to possess multiple classes, they would come in handy. The academy was sure to provide the perfect guidance on how to distribute them smartly.
Yet just when he thought the messages had subdued, another one popped up. This one was the most shocking of all.
[Silver Blood absorbed the power bestowed upon the follower of the Dragon God!]
[You have gained a new Skill, Dragonic Eyes!]
[Dragonic Eyes - Level 1]
[Rank: Legendary]
[Your eyes gain the ability to glimpse into possible futures. For every 10 Mana invested, you can see 0.1 seconds further into the future.]
[Upgrade Dragonic Eyes to the next level: 20,000 Evolution Points]
"Legendary Rank... future..." Leonard found himself short of breath.
From reading the description, he understood that for every 100 mana he invested, he would be able to peer one second into the future and all of its possible alternatives.
"And here I thought my mana pool had grown large... This skill will practically eat through my mana." He chuckled, slowly standing up.
Now that the adrenaline was wearing off with the death of the dragonkin, he and his allies were finally able to let out a sigh of relief at last.
All threats were dead, and nobody stood to claim their lives any longer. Soon, the help they had called for would arrive and rescue them from the Void.
"We survived!" Winston burst out in joy.
Harley nodded with a smile.
"I can finally go home..." Cassie dropped to her knees from exhaustion.
Russell groaned, massaging his head as he suffered from a headache.
Leonard met Elizabeth’s gaze.
Her eyes were narrowed in alarm. For the first time, he saw something that could only be described as fear in them.
’Why is she—’
The blood sigil drawn upon the floor at the center of the chamber lit up.
When the light subsided, a figure was seen standing in the middle. His head had twisted and reshaped into a squid-like form, with appendages stretching from it all the way down to his waist.
Instantly, the party knew they were looking at a Void Believer. They had thought the dragonkin had been the mastermind behind the sudden teleportation, only to be proven wrong!
"To think so many would make the cut... admirable." Orpheus praised, clapping slowly in an exaggerated movement.
"Hmm? It seems there are extras we don’t need here." He said calmly as he glanced at Joker.
The mist exploded in a violent burst.
[Joker has been killed. A 24-hour cooldown has been set before you can summon him again.]
"You too." Orpheus pointed at Valor.
The knight was flung backward, his armor shattering like glass.
[Valor has been killed. A 24-hour cooldown has been set before you can summon him again.]
Orpheus glanced at the six remaining awakeners.
"With the garbage taken care of, who would like to receive their reward for making it this far first?"
***
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