"Who in the burning multiverse is Himothy?!" Vale screeched, then growled deeply as she slammed her fan shut, grabbing Drake by the collar, "If you ever do that to me again! I will cut your balls off in your sleep!"
"Whoa, whoa, extreme much?!" Drake said falling back down to the crater below.
"You threw me at that flying insectoid, you freak! How-is-that-extreme!?!!?!?"
"You're fineeeee."
"I could have died!"
Drake winked at her, "But you didn't."
Their descent to the ground was in stark contrast to their buzzing surroundings, both on the ground and in the air.
Drake's heart was calm, his mind freshly sharpened by the newly obtained skill. But it knew it was still not enough.
His skills were lacking, there weer gaps in his arsinal that he did not have previously. Leaving him still feel naked. But he would soon remedy that.
Landing on the cratered earth he and Vale were instantly swarmed by the mass of insects. New variants of them crawling and scurrying forward.
Each time the brood seem to move or was reinforced by the flying fortress like insects there seemed to be stronger and more versatile opponents.
Shorter and more sturdy bugs rolled form the crowd of insects, their shells covered in multiple black spikes. Taller and thinner ones with a near obnoxious amount of arms akin to a centipede.
But this didn't deter Drake. A variety of opponents meant one thing to him.
"A variety of skill stones," he grinned.
Drake kept Vale close, using his foot to kick up a chunch of earth in front of him.
He now had mana to spare, but that would only last as long as he kept squashing insects to keep the Mana Germination growing and maintained. Meaning it was the perfect time to train. It was the perfect time to finally use his magic.
Both his own makeshift spell and Vale's Phoenix Ignition buff would persist so long as his status did.
So Drake only had one option. Well, the same option he had before.
"To fight!"
Drake reared back his fist, condensing mana at the surface of it and manifesting a thin layer of earth on his knuckles.
Throwing his first forward, it made contact with the stones. Drake willed some of the earth on his knuckles to embed themselves into the stone, reinforcing them and allowing him to manipulate them further.
The stones flew forward like a shotgun blast, filled with a small amount of mana, but more than enough to be useful.
Flying projectiles peppered the front of the swarm, some of the stones piercing the softer shells of some of the insects. Which was all that Drake needed.
The sound of metal on metal sounded as Drake snapped his fingers, using his newly found Magic Manipulation skill of Power Word Mana and Elemental Archon Class to improve his magic.
"Bloom!"
Instantly a horrific crunching sound ripped through the area. Every insect pierced by the stones was now turned into a porcupine of stone spikes. Green, purple, yellow ichor flowed from new puncture wounds.
You've killed Temturous Jykin Level 35. Temporary Experience earned. Experience stored.
You've killed Septar Vaxar Level 37. Temporary Experience earned. Experience stored.
You've killed Nuur Galrix Level 33. Temporary Experience earned. Experience stored.
..
.
"Looks like magic is back on the menu boys!" Drake bellowed.
"Y-You can use magic?!" Vale gasped, her eyes going wide.
Drake didn't have time to explain or worry about the repercussions anymore. This wasn't a walk in the park where he could casually pace himself. This was a fight with a swarm of death itself. Where the difficulty was rising by the second.
With his last volley, his mana regeneration increased again, his other body enhancement skills going full blast. All that was left was to gain more skills and survive long enough to outlast them.
The swarm assaulted them again, throwing more variants at him.
Rolling toward him like little saw blades were pillbug like insects, the spikes on their back turning into deadly teeth as the carved up the ground between them.
From above flying insectoids with long purple tendrils for arms covered in some viscous liquid, threw them forward in an attempt to catch him.
Drake shifted gears, arcing his free hand and creating a wall of earth in front of him. Then quickly creating a sheet of ice over his gauntlet, snatching one of the tendrils out of the air.
The pillbugs slammed against the wall, the sound of a their blade-like armor grating against it buzzing in his ear.
Ice from Drake's hand quickly began freezing over the tendril in his grip, the insect's screaming and struggling to remove itself from him. In the attempt the frozen tendril snapped.
Drake smirked, satisfied briefly but was snapped back as he saw his earthen wall was very quickly being torn down.
He cursed, "Without my magic exposure skill to improve my magic i guess it still isn't strong enough against E-Ranks."
Drake did have a magic enhancement skill but it proved to still not be enough without other utility skills to bolster the magic.
"If brute forcing them down with magic isn't an option. I'll just have to slow them down as best I can."
Drake waved his hand once more, the ice disappearing from his gauntlet, replaced by a ball of water in front of it.
Arcing his arm a blast of water covered the insects in the vicinity and the ground below them. Another wave, another manifestation of magic came to his fingertips.
A barrage of stones shot out, embedding themselves into the ground and sinking deep nto the earth below the swarm.
"Quagmire!"
Instantly the ground turned to quicksand, the insects on the ground sinkling deeply. Whatever insects able to fly took to the sky in a desperate escape.
But Drake wasn't done. He pointed his finger like a gun at a group of insects stuck in the mud covered in water and grime.
It sparked to life with a dense ball of lightning, crackling with power as Drake's status suddenly dipped.
"Hakuman Volt Bullet!"
Screaming forward as it left a line of plasma, the small dense ball of lightning scorched the ground and connected with the swarm. The lightning instantly turned the first insect it touched to a charred corpse, as the lightning jumped from insect to insect.
"Gatling!" Drake howled, firing off several more electrified rounds in different directions.
The bullets impacted different groups, searing all of them into charred piles of ash.
"Stay out of my swamp!" Drake bellowed.
The makeshift moat he made around himself and Vale only did so much however. The sinking earth filled with insects almost instantly. And even with his new regeneration Drake couldn't keep firing off spells at the cost of so much mana.
The kill notifications poured in once more. But Drake was starting to be concerned with no level up. His experience detriment for being a dual class was starting to prove itself a harsh handicap more and more.
The brief flashes of light coming from the corpses forced Drake to move. He was running out of options to keep the bugs at bay and protect Vale at the same time. He needed more skills, more stats to hold off an army of E-Ranks alone.
He weighed his risks, then moved in the fraction of a second. The insects were far enough away that he could move to grab the dropped skill stones and return without putting Vale at risk. He would move faster alone and so he did.
Kicking off the ground, Drake summoned several balls of lightning and shards of ice. Leaving them in a trail behind him as he scooped up skill stones and bits of burnt insect along the way.
In just a few moments he had gathered what he could of the skill stones, laying spells at the feet of the swarm as they attempted to chase after him. But Drake was confidence in his speed. His current stats were a testament to his classes being tailored to dealing massive amounts of damage rather than surviving as he previously had.
Oh and they showed.
Drake arrived back with Vale, his hands filled with skill stones as he looked over his shoulder.
"Elemental Master Mines!"
The sound of crackling thunder and shattering ice resounded in the area. Suddenly groups of insects turned into ash once more accompanied with frozen statues of glass-like insects affixed to icy ground.
Drake wasted no time, gripping some of the stones tightly.
You have consumed Skill Stone: Wilderness Insight [Uncommon]
You have learned skill: Beastial Insight and Tracking P1(0%) [F-Rank] [Weakend]
Your skill: Beastial Insight and Tracking. Has been forcibly increased to [E-Rank] P1(0%) [Weakend]
You have consumed Skill Stone: Elemental Jukebox [Rare]
You have learned skill: Elemental Archon's Dynamic Entrance P1(0%) [F-Rank] [Weakend]
Your skill:Elemental Archon's Dynamic Entrance. Has been forcibly increased to [E-Rank] P1(0%) [Weakend]
You have learned skill: Grotesque Resistance P1(0%) [F-Rank] [Weakend]
Your skill: Grotesque Resistance. Has been forcibly increased to [E-Rank] P1(0%) [Weakend]
You have learned skill: Archon's Elemental Apocalypse P1(0%) [F-Rank] [Weakend]
Your skill: Archon's Elemental Apocalypse. Has been forcibly increased to [E-Rank] P1(0%) [Weakend]
You have learned skill: Akashic Spell System P1(0%) [F-Rank] [Weakend]
Your skill: Akashic Spell System. Has been forcibly increased to [E-Rank] P1(0%) [Weakend]
The skills assailed him with a force of euphoric power that almost brought him to his knees. The level of skill influx wasn't something he was used to even after doing something similar in the tutorial. But these skills felt powerful, more than such. They felt almost like puzzle pieces falling into place completing the whole.
They felt as if they were always meant to be there.
In Drake's stupor the insects had closed the distance once again, from above and from the ground.
Above him a new variant of bug brought him pause just from its appearance and a foreboding feeling he couldn't shake.
"Is that fucking Bazelgeuse?!"
The insect was an elongated thing, with a lengthy body and extended tail. On the tail there were egg-like spheres in various colors. And it wasn't alone. There were more of them than Drake could count right away.
Dragonfly Bombardier Level 36 [E-Rank]
Beastial Insight and Tracking P1(0%) [E-Rank] [Weakend]
As acute as the greatest hound, as patient and determined as the fiercest lion. The insight you perceive from your surroundings and senses aid you in insurmountable ways.
Gives use better insight into identification of others, seeing past moderate ranked concealment items, skills, and spells. (Up to one Rank above.)
Can mark up to five targets, allowing the user to track them over long distances for up to one week. (Increases with Proficiency.)
Cost: Small amount of Mana and Stamina
Cooldown: 4 hours after all tracking has ceased.
Finally Drake had a skill allowing him more information on who he was fighting. And he was surprised to find that within the massive swarm there were also monsters.
Do they have monster tamers or summoners? Susmaryosep! Is there something this swarm doesn't have?! He grumbled internally.
His eyes went wide as he began seeing the eggs drop out of the air.
"Mother-"
Drake waved his hand and several layers of dense earth manifested above him and Vale for protection.
"What are you doing? Are you trying to bury us?!" Vale yelled.
"I'm trying to make sure we aren't turned into an aftermath image of a nuclear bomb!" Drake shouted back, pushing more mana into the layers of earth, praying they would hold.
Unfortunately for Drake they weren't the only obstacles he had to worry about. The moats he had created were being overtaken by the mass of insects.
On top of that as Drake was focused on the incoming attack from above, something slammed into his shoulder.
Drake reeled from the pain, but forced himself to keep his eyes open and look for where the attack had come from.
He quickly saw several more projectiles shoot out from the swarm, long spear-like quills careening towards him.
Drake threw up his other hand, a sheet of ice forming just before the quills pierced them.
He looked directly at the quills stopped a mere inch away from his face by the wall of ice, cracks spider webbing out from the impacts.
"Great," Drake grunted, pulling the quill from his arm and tossing it to the ground. "I'll say it again! What don't they have in this fucking army?!"
Drake wasn't out of the woods yet, his arm suddenly feeling numb but just as quickly recovered.
Your skill: Grotesque Resistance. Has resisted: Spear Spider Numbing Toxin.
Grotesque Resistance P1(2%) [E-Rank] [Weakend]
Not all vitality comes clean or pretty. A tempered body must go through the most horrific of transformations to reach the peak of Mt. Tai.
Passive Effects: +20% to Vitality and Stamina
Increases resistance to all forms of external and internal abnormal effects by 100%. (Increases with Proficiency.)
Even with his new resistance the numbing agent temporarily put his arm out of commission.
Getting hit by more of those would be a death sentence in the middle of a fight. I just can't catch a break right now!
The sound of the elemental bombs began crashing down from above. Drake was able to feel through his spell control that the layers of earth were slowly crumbling from the bombing. On top of that more and more quills began flying through the air, leaving a trail of smoke from their launch positions in the distance.
"I guess this is how Godzilla used to feel!" he roared, grabbing onto Vale, "I hope this fucking works!!"
Drake willed his new skill to activate, looking at the place he wanted to move. And thankfully the skill worked while holding Vale, teleporting them a few feet away an explosion of fire, water, earth, wind, ice, and lightning all around them.
Elemental Archon's Dynamic Entrance P1(0%) [E-Rank]
Nothing like an entrance or exit made for a hero! Dazzle your enemies with spectacular style!
Allows the user to teleport a short distance away in a burst of a chosen element. This skill leaves behind a burst of a chosen element as well as creating a burst of elemental fury
This skill will hold a maximum of two charges for each available element. (Increases with Proficiency.)
Charges will replenish every 10 minutes.
Cost: None
Cooldown: None
With his inexperience at using the skill he had used all of his charges at once leaving him with no way of moving instantly with Vale. But the destruction the skill caused on his re-entrance was devastating, leaving at least a twenty-foot wide crater filled with a plethora of elements.
But now he had just moved from the cover of his slightly fortified position into a much more vulnerable one, with just as many insects screeching to end him.
Drake looked at his status. His health was still at full, thankfully. His regeneration had recovered the small damage he had taken from the quills. His Mana was stuck bouncing around 50% thanks to his current regeneration and Vale's buff eating away at it. His stamina hovering 70% and slowly recovering.
But there was a major problem.
He looked upwards at the hovering fortress spewing out more insects by the second. Then looking around with none of the other group members in sight, he could only rely on himself and Vale, but Vale was simply a support class.
"If we don't cut off the head of the snake, it will just keep spitting out these buzzing losers!"
"Please don't tell me you're going to throw me at that thing," Vale pleaded.
"I would never- Actually that might be a good-" Drake dodged a fan nearly slapping against the side of his head, "Okay not a good time for jokes, I get it! But I need to do something. I need a bigger spell."
"A bigger spell?" Vale thought aghast, her head turning to the already substantial aftermath of Drake's previous spells.
"I got just the thing. Hold on tight!"
Drake swung Vale around onto his back as she gripped onto him for dear life.
Bending his knees he pushed off the ground with all the force he could muster. In an instant he was eye level with the beast of a flying fortress.
Brood Fortress - The Flaying Keep Level 39 [E-Rank]
"A massive baddie deserves a massive spell!"
Drake threw his hand to the sky, red hot fire enveloping the area above as he dumped his mana into it forcing it to swiftly change from red, to blue, to white, then something unexpected happened. The fire flickered and changed once more turning into a pitch black.
He ignored the sudden change continuing with his mixing of spells. Adding blue lightning cascading across his raised arm, forcing yelps of anxiety from Vale as he did his best to contain the chaotic spell.
"You may have that gigantic body! But I have these golden fingers!"
"Aren't they black!?"
"This hand of mine burns with an awesome power!"
Drake roared adding fuel to the spell as his status diminished, the Brood Fortress seemingly understanding it was in danger. More and more insects flying from the monster to swarm Drake.
He summoned two more balls of fire to his feet, condensing them down as they began glowing red, eventually losing color as they went pitch black.
More instances of spells began manifesting around Drake. Lightning, torrents of wind, blazing pyers of black flames all condensing around his raised arm.
Finally Drake raised a single finger, his middle finger.
"It's glow tells me to defeat you! Here I go!"
The balls of flame ignited below his feet, propelling Drake forward at an unbelievably rate as he screamed.
"Now! Shiningggggg!!!!!"
Drake ripped his hand backwards, his status spinning downward with the combination of Vale's buff and his own enhancement skills and spells. His hand screeching with the power of his spells.
"FINGERRRRRRRR!!!!!!"
Drake collided with the massive structure, his hand tearing and burning through any insect that attempted to get into his way and prevent him from destroying the fortress. The near endless notifications almost blinded his periphery as he pushed forward to his goal.
The collision announced itself with a massive boom. Drake's hand beginning to burn through the outside of the fortress as he heard a bone chilling scream pass through his body.
However Drake wasn't deterred. He was betting on this attack to turn the tide of the fight in his favor. He needed this to slow the flow of reinforcements from one of the two fortress in the area. Helping not only himself but the rest of the group if they were still alive.
Drake howled with effort as the two fire spells at his feet continued to push him forward into the side of the fortress.
A back and forth between the fortress's defense and Drake's unbendable determination to kill it to save himself and his squad ensued.
Any insect naive enough to intervene was burned away by the ambient fire at his feet or the strands of lightning whipping back and forth from his hand.
With the seconds passing as if they were hours, Drake didn't budge and neither did the fortress. That was until finally Drake's spell began to melt the the outside of the grotesque structure.
The outer coating of defenses melted away, and suddenly Drake was hit with a smell vile enough to make him nauseous but this was his go moment.
He put ever last ounce he had left into the fire spells propelling him forward. He and Vale punched through the fortress's interior. Ripping through innards and whatever else was contained within it.
After some prolonged drawn out seconds Drake's hand connected with the other side of the fortress. Thankfully it proved to be easier to penetrate than the outside going in.
Bursting through, both he and Vale gasped for breath as Drake struggled to maintain flight with his spells. His status running on fumes.
But he had done it.
You have subjugated Brood Fortress - The Flaying Keep Level 39 [E-Rank], Temporary Experience earned, Experience stored.
Pseudo Weakened Magic Tempered Asuran Initiate Level Increased to Level 33, 50 Temporary FP have been awarded.
Pseudo Weakened Magic Tempered Asuran Initiate Level Increased to Level 34, 50 Temporary FP have been awarded.