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Chapter 110: Draconic Dryad
Chapter 110: Draconic Dryad
Chapter 110: Draconic Dryad
I stood, watching the Dryad howl in pain as her body underwent the changes of her Tribute.
Generally speaking, Tributes didn’t normally cause such dramatic changes. All of the Nymphs I’d seen in the past that’d received Tributes got basic things like claws on the tips of their hands. And, of course, Tributes also provided Stats and other System-related abilities. In terms of bodily changes, they wouldn’t normally do so much.
But those small changes happened when getting Tributes from a weak monster. The first Nymph I’d ever seen, back when I was first lost in the woods, had gotten its long claws from a Stripek – a monster that didn’t even exist past Level 10. So of course such a weak monster would cause such a weak change.
When she’d turned into a Dryad from being a Nymph, the Dryad had gotten her Tribute from a Faerie Queene with an utterly massive Level. And getting something like that completely changed her species and added on tons of new abilities.
So, if she was getting a Tribute from a Dragon – something around as powerful as the Faerie Queene – would that mean we’d see her evolve into yet another new species? Tributes stacked upon one another, so a Dryad – something that’d already gotten a Tribute from a Faerie Queene – getting yet another Tribute from a Dragon wouldn’t be the same thing as a regular Nymph getting a Tribute from a Dragon.
In fact, I wouldn’t have been surprised if this was the first time in the history of the world that this species was about to be created. Really, what were the odds that something went out and got Tributes from both of those powerful monsters?
Last time, she got the ability to instantly cure all wounds and afflictions once a week, the ability to communicate telepathically with others, a much more powerful weapon that she had finer control of, and a massive number of additional Stats. What would she get this time?
My thoughts were interrupted by movement in the corner of my eye. An Infernal approached me, ready to attack, and I was forced to pay attention to the fight again. I still had my second ring I could activate for another bout of invisibility, but for now I wanted to try and keep it in reserve.
It swung and I dodged beneath its fist, backing away and shooting it with a Ray of Frost.
You have struck Level 22 Infernal for 62 damage using Ray of Frost.
You have cursed Level 22 Infernal with Ray of Frost. For the next 5 seconds, its Dexterity score is lowered by 7.77.
14.2 Mana Cost. Your Mana is 18.
I wanted to conserve my low Mana as much as possible, too, so I tried to focus on just retreating from the Infernal for now. Something told me this entire battle was about to undergo quite a massive shake-up.
Sneaking a glance over at the Dryad once again, I was struck with the sight of a completely different being. She was even taller – I wasn’t close enough to tell for sure, but she’d most likely stand a solid head taller above me now. But even then, her new height was probably the least obvious change about her.
Her eyes, as always, glowed white. But now, there was a different form the glow took. It wasn’t the steady, unchanging light like you’d find from a magical illumination Spell. Now, it was like that of fire, dancing in her eyes and occasionally sending out white embers and sparks floating up from her face. Across her body, the previously-green, natural vines that wrapped across her were now smoldering red, sizzling with an obvious heat that’d scald the skin of whoever touched them.
And that red-hot nature spread to her whip, which was, naturally, on fire. Full, blazing flames spread all along the length of the whip, combining with the thorns to create a truly deadly weapon.
She got up to her feet and stood straight up, gazing around the battlefield with her newly-ablaze eyes.
With its end of the bargain seemingly done, the Dragon Astintash flapped its wings and took to the skies, now free from the chains that’d held it in place. The instant the soldiers saw it free to hunt them down, almost everyone began fleeing in terror.
As the Dryad looked around, she eventually saw me and caught my eye. In that instant, I got an unexpected System notification.
A Bond with Level 28 Draconiad has been established. You will now gain a portion of her natural might.
For as long as you are within 1000 paces of Level 28 Draconiad, you gain the following effects:
-Your Strength, Endurance, and Dexterity are each increased by 2.
-Whenever Draconiad gains XP, you also gain 1% of that XP.
-You gain 6% Resistance to all heat-based damage.
I blinked, surprised at the flood of changes that suddenly rushed into my body from the additional Stats. Draconiad? A Bond had been established? What the fuck?
But before I could process what had just happened – or even finish reading through the whole notification – I heard a growl to my side and saw the Infernal charging at me again. I backed away – something that was made a bit easier due to my extra Stats – and tried to figure things out.
Draconiad – that was probably just the name of the Dryad’s new species. And, from that new species, she got this Bond ability? I supposed it made sense; as a Dryad, she could telepathically connect with people, offer them aid in the form of healing, and so on. And now, with a Dragon’s Tribute, that connection seemed to be used to also impress some of her newfound power into those she’d connected with.
Level 28 Draconiad has offered moderate contribution toward the slaying of Level 28 Infernal.
Due to having a Bond with Draconiad, you have earned 2 XP. Your XP is 849.
I glanced over to see the Dryad – or rather, Draconiad – standing over the corpse of an Infernal. It seemed like that was how the extra XP system worked. One percent wasn’t exactly a lot – the whole Bond thing seemed to be mainly small boosts like that – but free XP was free XP. Still, I was a bit frazzled by everything going on.
I got a few more notifications about her killing various Infernals as she whipped her new body into action, flinging herself through the battlefield with more prowess than I’d ever seen her show before. She tore through Demons and Humans alike, and I quickly lost track of her in the crowd.
At the same time, I could hear Astintash moving across the legions of soldiers and sending them fleeing. It soared over my area and I quickly took cover under some rocks as it breathed its fiery breath down at my pursuers. Whether this was a genuine attempt to save me or just Astintash seeing some soldiers and going to kill them, I had no idea. But I was thankful nonetheless.
After it left, I came out from my hiding place to see that there were no longer any soldiers coming after me. Not all of them had died, but the ones that survived were either burnt and unable to fight, or got scared off and were now in the process of running away.
I also didn’t see Erani anywhere. She was probably still invisible, and definitely too far for me to see something like the footprints she’d be leaving behind as she moved.
“Hey,” I messaged the now-Draconiad, using the familiar link between us as I searched. “Are you okay? What’s going on?”
“Am fine,” I got an excited response. “Am going to kill bad guys!”
“Wait!” I urged. “There are way too many, and they’re already retreating. Just let them go for now, and we can regroup. You just got a bunch of Stats from the Tribute, right? You need to give your body time to adjust then, and–”
“If bad guys are running away, it means they know I can kill them!”
I got several more notifications of her killing more soldiers. She clearly wasn’t listening to me in her excitement from the power-up.
“Okay, fine, kill the ones that are nearby. But after that, come back as soon as you can. I don’t trust the Dragon not to accidentally crush you or something.”
I glanced around, trying to find Erani. We’d need to regroup at some point, but maybe it’d be easier to do so once the one with telepathic abilities came back and could help us coordinate. Because for now, I was relying on just walking around and hoping to stumble into Erani while still staying hidden in case any stragglers showed up.
Really, it was quite uncanny how quickly everyone cleared out once Astintash was mobile again. Sure, it was possible that one or two stuck back and might attack me, but pretty much everyone left the moment the Dragon got free. Seemed like they didn’t trust themselves that much to take it down after those chains were gone. Well, that, and I was sure the newly-created Draconiad rampaging through their forces didn’t do much to help.
It didn’t seem like Erani was anywhere immediately nearby, so I just decided to message the Draconiad and ask her for some help in finding each other.
“Hey, do you mind asking Erani where she is right now? She’s invisible, so it’s hard to find her.”
I waited for a second, but didn’t get a response. That’d never happened before. Was there something going on with the new Bond she’d gotten or something?
“Are you getting this message?”
“Help!” I suddenly got back. “Too many bad guys! Come!”
My eyes widened. Shit! Instantly, I shot off in the direction I’d seen her run off in. I should’ve insisted for her to come back immediately, not let her just go off and do whatever she wanted. She obviously wasn’t thinking very soundly, and I should’ve been the voice of reason there. She was a kid, I chided myself. Of course she needed an authority to tell her to knock it off sometimes.
“Arlan, wait,” I heard a voice that I recognized to be Index’s.
“What?!” I asked, still rushing over to the aid of my companion in trouble.
“I wouldn’t advise going to save her. We don’t know how many enemies there are, and you don’t have much Health and Mana left. It’s too big a risk to take considering the reward.”
“Considering the reward?!” I demanded. “She’s in trouble. She needs my help. It’s not a question of risk and reward.”
“I mean, objectively, it is. Saving her only increases your chances of future survival by a certain amount, and even with her new Tribute, I don’t suspect it will raise your chances by the amount you’re risking right now going to save her. Mathematically, it doesn’t—”
“This isn’t some fucking math problem you can optimize!” I said. This was the first time I’d actually disagreed with one of Index’s recommendations. It seemed like it didn’t do well with emotions.
“Of course I don’t ‘do well with emotions,’” Index said, reminding me it could read my thoughts. “Emotions are illogical, and relying on them only serves to lower your survival chances. If you’d just stop and listen to me, I’d—”
“Listen,” I said, “there’s no point to living if I’m not happy. And if she dies, I won’t be happy. Plug that into your calculations, and run it from there. Saving her is non-negotiable.”
“I…okay,” Index said after a moment. “In that case, use more Mana on Expedite to get there faster. If there are enough enemies to overwhelm her, there will be enough that you won’t be able to kill them all, no matter how many there are. You’re better off using your Mana now to arrive before they have a chance to kill her.”
I nodded. “Thank you. If she dies, I…”
My voice trailed off, and I didn’t bother to continue my thought. She wouldn’t die. With a hurried cast of Expedite, using the Mana I’d regenerated in the time since the fight had died down, I moved faster than ever in my attempt to catch up to my companion.
“Where are you?” I asked, trying to keep myself from panicking.
“Downhill! Cornered by bad guys!” Was all the response I got.
I glanced around frantically, trying to find any clump of soldiers that might give away her location. The destruction was so dense from Astintash’s rampaging attacks, rubble all around and dirt kicked up in the air, it was difficult to make anything out.
But then, off to my left, I heard a yell. It was a roar of pain, clearly from an Infernal – not who I was looking for – but it was better than nothing. I rushed off in that direction, trying to find where it came from, when I saw it. A group of soldiers, retreating off down the hill, but obviously being slowed down by something. Four of the Infernals were carrying someone between them, each Demon holding one of the person’s limbs.
And the person was glowing with fiery anger, eyes ablaze.
She was struggling to get away from them, but her power had always been in her speed, rather than her raw strength. And even though her strength was undoubtedly powerful in its own right, getting ganged up on by several massively muscular Infernals was obviously way too much for her to overpower with brute force alone, especially when there were dozens more soldiers surrounding her.
I rushed forward without thought to save my captive companion, despite the fact that there were way too many Infernals and Humans for me to take on. Sprinting closer to the dozens of soldiers, I wracked my mind for a solution. Rushing straight in would just get me killed, but obviously I couldn’t just leave her there to get captured – and probably killed, after she was questioned.
Noxious Grasp? No, too many enemies to kill them all with it. And not enough Mana to use Crippling Chill, Ray of Frost, or Gravity Well to incapacitate them all at once. Even with Expedite, the crowd was too thick for me to get through to the Draconiad, no matter how much Dexterity I had. Besides, I needed my Mana for once I actually got near them. It felt like there was no way through.
But then I remembered one last tool I had.
You have been made invisible.
For the next 15 minutes, you gain the following effects:
-You are affected by invisibility. You cannot be sensed visually by anyone.
-If you take damage, invisibility automatically ends.
With the activation of my last invisibility ring, I disappeared from sight as I rushed straight up to the crowd of soldiers unnoticed. They were in too much of a hurry to get out of here away from the still-rampaging Dragon to hear or see the footsteps approaching them.
“Get ready,” I messaged, “coming in.”
I felt a sense of genuine surprise from the Draconiad. “What? You are here?”
“Of course, you needed help. What else was I supposed to do?”
I slipped into the crowd, using the fact that everyone was already bumping into each other to easily get by without people realizing it was me touching them. Ducking below arms and squeezing between bodies, I moved through into the center of the group.
And then, once I got to where the four Infernals were holding the Draconiad captive, I took a moment to get my bearings, and then enacted my hastily-constructed plan.
My Mana had regenerated a bit in the couple minutes it’d taken for me to find the Draconiad, and in an instant, I spent it all. I cursed all four of the Infernals holding her with Crippling Chill, dropping my Mana down to almost nothing, and, in the confusion, tackled my body into the Draconiad’s, ripping her from their grasps.
She fell to the ground alongside me, blindsided by the sudden force pushing her to the ground, but her fiery eyes lit up when she realized what was going on. Hastily getting to her feet and wielding her weapon, she lashed the burning vine of thorns out in a wide arc at the four Demons and everyone else making up the group.
Level 29 Draconiad has slain Level 21 Infernal.
Due to having a Bond with Draconiad, you have earned 3 XP. Your XP is 883.
Level 29 Draconiad has slain Level 25 Infernal.
Due to having a Bond with Draconiad, you have earned 4 XP. Your XP is 886.
Level 29 Draconiad has slain Level 27 Infernal.
Due to having a Bond with Draconiad, you have earned 4 XP. Your XP is 890.
Level 29 Draconiad has slain Level 22 Infernal.
Due to having a Bond with Draconiad, you have earned 3 XP. Your XP is 893.
Embers and sparks flew through the air as the vine tore through their bodies, finishing them off from their previous wounds, and the rest of the Human soldiers screamed in fear and backed away, clearly not willing to engage with her now that she wasn’t in bonds.
She struck out at some of them, nicking their backs as they fled from her, and stepped forward to give chase, but I grabbed onto her arm. It still surprised me to see her having grown so tall when just before she was barely my height. But despite the difference in our size – and probably physical strength – she hesitated and looked back when I grabbed her wrist.
Of course, she wouldn’t actually see anything when looking back at me because of the invisibility, but she could receive my message all the same.
“Please,” I said, “don’t kill yourself over them. I know you’re angry – I am too. I mean, they almost just killed you, for the gods’ sake. But if you’re going to dedicate yourself to destroying them, at least promise me you won’t destroy yourself in the process.”
She glanced back. Some of the people had drawn their weapons and were ready to attack if she struck at them, but none of them approached. In fact, even though they seemed ready to fight, everyone there was backing away, clearly not wanting to engage now that she was free.
The sound of Astintash’s roar sounded from off somewhere else in the massive, chaotic battlefield, and I saw a cone of flames spout up from the trees in that direction. The reminder of the bloodthirsty Dragon seemed to convince the soldiers to run off for good, at that point, and I let out a breath.
The person I’d just saved didn’t seem quite as relaxed as I was, though. She stared into me as though she could see me despite the invisibility. “Why you save me?”
“What do you mean?” I responded. “Of course I saved you – you needed help. You think I was just going to let you die?”
There was a pause. “When first get ability to talk to you, could sense your emotions. You were afraid of me, scared I may kill you. You kept me with you because I help kill bad guys and keep you safe, but did not feel like I your friend. Now… you still not feel like I your friend. But not in bad way. You feel like…”
“I feel like you’re my family,” I said, understanding what she meant. “And I would never let my kid get slaughtered by some Demons. I know, back then, you said that if I felt like saving your life would put my own in serious danger, I wouldn’t do it. Well, now I know that I would. And I hope you know it too.”
She stared at me, her eyes welling up with white tears. “I… your child?”
I couldn’t help but laugh a bit, saying that someone so much taller than me was my kid. But, really, in a way, that was just how I felt. She didn’t have anyone else, and I wasn’t about to abandon her to live life on her own. So, in a way, she was like my surrogate daughter.
She nodded, apparently feeling my confirmation with her empathy ability. “I know where mother is, saw her when chasing after this group of bad guys. Follow me to find her.”
“Uh, sure,” I said, a bit surprised at her sudden use of the word ‘mother’ to refer to Erani. She sure did adapt to these things quickly, it seemed.
But as we walked off in that direction, I felt something coming – a System message, like the ones I got when I Leveled up. Or, really, it felt more like the one I’d gotten about that Bond thing I’d gotten when the Draconiad had evolved – which I still needed to ask her about.
But once the notification arrived in my mind, I realized I’d probably have quite a bit more questions for her than I first thought.
Threshold reached.
Your Bond with Level 29 Draconiad has deepened.
Due to your Bond being deepened, it has undergone the following changes:
Stat Increase: From 2 to 4
XP Gain: From 1% to 2%
Heat Resistance: From 6% to 11.6%
My main question being, how in the fuck did the System just decide the Bond got stronger?