Sepeti pushed himself up as his body gradually grew accustomed to the oppressive presence. He still ached all over but at least he was somewhat able to correct himself. Through bleary eyes, he found the source of the voice.

Standing within the rubble of the boulders Kid had dropped on the vanguard was a woman. At least, he was sure it was a woman. She had to have been the one who had spoken. He spotted no other humans near her.

“Ugh, I don’t know why I even try talking to monsters. They can’t understand me.” The woman’s voice was slightly muffled by an ornately crafted helmet covering much of her head. It didn’t look all that practical to Sepeti. As if she could feel his thoughts, the woman pulled the thing off and tossed it aside.

“Stupid fuckin’ stuffy helmet,” she muttered, turning her neck back and forth as she worked out some kinks.

She was exactly what Sepeti expected of a grizzled veteran. Man or woman, most veterans of hard lives looked alike. At least, they did in his eyes. Everything about the woman was forgettable other than the scars that lined her throat and lower jaw. They glistened under the bright light, puckered things that looked like they had yet to fully heal.

Kid roared as it spread its wings to the fullest. The dragon dug its claws into the packed dirt, preparing to charge.

“Wait,” Sepeti said weakly, still reeling from the effects of the woman’s beastly presence. “Parley, remember?”

The dragon grunted as it seemed to come to its senses. Sepeti understood the primal urge that had nearly overtaken the young dragon, that ancient fight-or-flight.

Character Screen

Name:

Malia

Level:

22 (unverified)

Class:

--------

Title:

--------

The woman began walking toward them, eyes locked on the dragon. The air around her hands rippled as an absurdly long spear materialized in her grasp.

“Hold up,” Sepeti said, vision swimming as his head slowly righted itself. “You’re Malia, aren’t you?”

The woman halted, pointing her spear at Sepeti and the mammoth.

“So those idiots weren’t lying.” Her hard face grew stiffer as she eyed Sepeti. A shiver ran down his spine as instinct told him to duck. He heeded the pull of his gut, laying flat as a heavy metal arrow whisked through the area where his torso had been.

“Do not listen to the monster, Captain!” the annoying voice that had been casting the spells from before yelled as a large armored man stepped into the cave proper. He was all beard and belly, rumbling as he addressed the woman. “It is little more than an amalgam of heretical shadow. It aims to trick you!”

He pointed a finger at Sepeti and the mammoth and light began to form around the digit.

“Move, big boy!” Sepeti whispered as he tugged on the mammoth’s fur. The giant beast didn’t move. It let out a weak trill.

“|Luminous|!” the large man screamed as a beam was ejected from his fingertip. It slammed into the mammoth’s broad face, knocking the monster back and Sepeti off it.

Sepeti gasped as the wind was knocked out of him. He went limp just before he hit the floor. His world spun even more as he skidded across the dirt ground. The pain flared as every inch of his battered body ached. He clung to the sensation, focusing so he wouldn’t faint.

A roar, much more ferocious and earthshaking than the last few, filled the oddly quiet cave. The sounds of metal clanging against metal reached Sepeti but he was still reeling. He finally skidded to a stop, dirt mixing with blood and other fluids that he couldn’t identify.

He focused, concentrating on activating his |Time Dilation| skill. He needed some time to think. To clear his head. Anything, really.

Time slowed to a crawl. Or rather, his perception of time slowed. He watched as Kid swiped at the woman, large claws digging into an invisible shield. The woman’s spear flashed as she struck with pinpoint accuracy, opening little wounds in the metal dragon’s body. He wasn’t sure how the clash would play out but he was fairly certain it would hurt both sides quite a bit.

He noticed that soldiers were beginning to trickle back into the cave, steering clear of the rubble and remains that littered the entranceway. They moved at a snail’s pace compared to the two high-leveled combatants. The large armored man was busy scanning the cave, possibly looking for him.

Shadow beasts were slowly breaking free of the woman’s presence, some already moving to extinguish the flares. Many were fading, their bodies wavering as the wisps of darkness dissipated.

The bison-lizard was busy pushing itself to its feet, quivering as its hastily patched wounds struggled under the beast’s weight.

He released the skill and a wave of nausea rippled through him. His aches and pains from sliding across the ground caught up with him. The worst was the condition of his right leg. It throbbed something fierce, the pain was nearly mindnumbing. His ankle jutted out at an odd angle. His vision grew fuzzy as he noticed a pool of blood along with what he thought might be bone jutting out of the skin. |Adrenal Rush| activated, doubling the already pumping adrenaline as a layer of pain-numbing insulation settled on his body. He was pretty sure he was going into shock.

Sepeti took a few seconds to center himself. He needed to do something, sitting around was doing none of them any favors. Levels be damned, this shit show was getting worse by the second and he needed to figure out the best course of action.

His first move was to draw a line of runes up and down his right leg using his own blood, omitting the last two characters. Then, without giving himself too much time to think, he set his ankle. His scream was drowned out by the raging battles. Tears dripped down his face but he refused to give in to the pain. Hands shaking, he scrawled the last two runes into his leg. The magic activated, blood seeming to boil as it was quickly absorbed into his skin. A chitinous cast quickly grew out of the runes, knitting itself around his leg and immobilizing the broken joint. Other runes temporarily numbed his senses by blocking the pain receptors in his leg.

A blast destroyed the ground near where Sepeti sat. Dust sprayed as he rolled away, thanking himself for writing in the pain-blocking runes as his hastily casted leg rattled around. Another blast halted his rolling, this one much closer. A rain of arrows landed around him.

Sepeti quickly expanded the effective area of |Lair Design| before scooping out a sizable chunk of compacted dirt. He fell into a shallow hole as he continued to dig, heavy arrows and blasts of light still landing around him. His stomach knotted painfully as his mana reserves plunged. Still, he dug, moving laterally once he was deep enough to not have to worry about the light beams digging their way down to him. He made sure it was deep enough to protect him but not so deep that he couldn’t climb out.

His vision swam, halting his digging. The sounds of battle overhead were muffled but he was still able to make out footsteps approaching his little sanctuary. A group of arrows thudded against the dirt before a flare was thrown down into his hole.

“I don’t see it!” someone yelled.

“Burn it out,” a familiar, very annoying voice instructed.

A bottle shattered, splashing its contents all over the hole. More bottles followed, filling the poorly insulated hiding spot with the smell of alcohol. The contents quickly burst into a bright fire as the contents reacted to the flare. The flames burned oddly, crawling toward him and spreading the brightness of the flare.

“Fuck,” Sepeti growled as he released multiple chunks of dirt in the entrance to his hidey-hole. He hoped the dirt would suffocate the flames but he was also banking on regaining his reserved mana.

A wave of mana rejuvenation rolled through him. Unfortunately, the fire seemed to burn brighter, using the dirt as fuel rather than being smothered. He began digging upward as more bottles of alcohol were thrown onto the heap of condensed dirt.

Sepeti popped his head out into the cave, gripping the smooth edges for support as the mana drop made him dizzy again. A group of soldiers plus the large caster-guy stood around the hole he’d made.

He began summoning all the rocks and compacted dirt he had in his storage space, aiming at a point high enough to kill on impact. He hadn’t kept track of how many he was pulling out but the burst of mana returning to his core rejuvenated him.

A hail of rocks and dirt assaulted the group. Sepeti watched as one of the soldier’s heads was caved in by a medium-sized dirt boulder. Another collapsed as their body was riddled with fast-moving rocks of varying sizes. The large man was the only one to react in time, shielding himself against the barrage.

Sepeti scooped out the rest of the dirt around him before pulling himself out of the hole. He waved away the various messages that popped up, cluttering his vision with stupid boxes as he tried to focus on his enemies.

“|Luminous|!” the large man screeched as a searing light passed through Sepeti’s arm.

He rolled away, a little too late as the throbbing in his arm bloomed. He struggled to his feet, chitinous cast hold up under him. The large man pointed at Sepeti again, large finger charred from repeated uses of the light spell.

The sound of the lock falling open filled his head as he reached into his handy dandy pocket dimension and pulled out one of his favorite weapons. The air around his hand glimmered as a huge revolver materialized. He took aim, braced his good arm with his bad, and took the shot. A flare of light issued from the barrel of the gun. His ears rang, high-pitched keening filling his head.

The large man looked surprised, mouth wide open as blood streamed down his face. He collapsed, finger still stretched out and pointing at Sepeti.

More messages flooded his vision but he waved them away as he shifted his aim onto the last remaining soldier of the group. The man had, somehow, dodged the rain of stones and dirt by rolling around on the ground.

Sepeti steadied his breathing then took the shot. He watched as the bullet tore through the colorful leather jerkin, haubergeon, whatever the hell it was called. The man jerked, rolling over as his blood flowed and joined the rest of the ichor from his comrades.

Sepeti let out a long sigh. He wanted to drop to his knees but the sounds of the battle between the dragon and the woman soon drowned out the droning that rumbled around in his head. He staggered toward them, gun still in hand, brain barely registering anything.

Chaos surrounded him as his vision blurred, focusing only on the two figures and their intense match. A sluggish wave pressed down on his weary body as he took step after agonizing step. Screams and howls and barks reached him but they just didn’t register.

He watched as the woman, a beast in human form, parried every attack Kid threw at her. She moved with lithe grace, every action she took was calculated and assured. In stark contrast, the dragon attacked in a frenzy. It threw everything it had at the woman, swiping claws and slashing tail, spiny wings and noxious breath. Their dance was clearly one-sided. The woman firmly held the upper hand, dancing in and out of range as her spear dug into the weak points in the young metal dragon’s hide.

Sepeti gasped for air as he reached the mammoth’s inert form. Despite having taken the full brunt of the light attack, the mammoth was still alive. Its breathing was shallow and labored. He laid next to it, using its brawny body as a brace as he waited for an opening.

The dragon leaked, viscous blood smearing its cold, metallic body as it fought with a ferocity he’d never expected out of the unfortunate child. The woman had sustained a few injuries but was in a much better state than the dragon.

A thunderous roar filled the air as a large figure jumped at the woman. The bison-lizard crashed into her, sending her sprawling away.

With an unnatural grace, she regained her footing by flipping. It was such an unnecessary motion, one Sepeti would be sure to ridicule when they survived the ordeal. If they survived.

With the bison-lizard joining the fray, the woman quickly found herself on the defensive. She fended off both beasts at the same time, falling into a groove. The experience gap was glaring but the two monsters fought on.

“Support the captain!” a voice yelled as a hail of arrows surrounded the bison-lizard and Kid. Their thick hides protected them but some of the heavier arrows slipped through the cracks.

Groggily, Sepeti turned his attention to the remaining humans. He was surprised to find a good amount of shadow beasts still engaging the humans. They took turns attacking in waves, battering the newly formed vanguard. Somehow, without any of the leaders, the reserves had been able to hold off. Human bodies littered the area immediately around the entrance, most badly torn and ripped to shreds.

“Wake up,” Sepeti rasped, nudging the mammoth’s stomach. “Wake up Elephant!”

The mammoth didn’t move. He noticed shadows rising from its body, like flakes of ash rising from a charred log of wood.

Sepeti blinked as a large, blocky figure sailed through the air. The bison-lizard let out a low, piteous roar before it hit the ground not too far from where he was sitting. The monster mewled as its craggy body began to disintegrate.

Kid let out a follow-up roar, sending a shockwave of stunning energy through the cave. It snapped at the woman, trying to bite the absurdly long spear in half as it swung a spiky fist at her. She shifted her spear just enough to make the dragon’s snapping jaws miss it while also repelling the attack. The woman kicked out, infusing enough strength into the attack that it dented some of the dragon’s metallic scales.

Sepeti took aim. He had to take a few quick breaths to steady himself. The residual adrenaline was still pumping, making it both easy for him to concentrate but hard to keep his body in check. His plans had long gone off the rails. He hadn’t expected the damned boss to engage them so quickly.

As he continued to think, his hands steadied. He talked himself through what he was aiming for. Center mass. Nothing less, he wanted to make sure he hit his target.

The pair engaged once more. The woman hopped around, slashing and poking the dragon as it threw everything it had at her. One of her stabs grazed Kid’s eye, causing it to step back. Instead of filling the space, the woman hopped backward, expecting a follow-up attack.

Sepeti pulled the trigger. A deafening pop rattled his brain. He closed his eyes for a second as he allowed his body to follow the recoil of the gun.

The sound of shattering glass emanated throughout the cave as the bullet slammed into the woman’s chest. It didn’t penetrate her armor but it did send her reeling backward, the inertia knocking her over. Whatever had protected her broke loudly.

The woman scrambled to her feet, shock and anger knitting her brow. She checked herself, running her hands along her chest where the bullet had impacted.

“You broke it!” she screamed as she broke into a run. Her powerful legs propelled her across the distance in no time. She slammed her shoulder into Sepeti’s face before picking him up by the collar. “You broke it! You damned monster, you broke my pendant!”

Far from the cool, calm, and collected veteran warrior from just a few moments before, the woman had entered a frenzied state. She let go of Sepeti then kneed him in the stomach before he could hit the ground.

Sepeti’s world flashed black and white as the woman beat on him. She rag-dolled him as if she were handling a child, slapping him and yelling in his face. He was pretty sure she was going to kill him. He raised his good arm and tried to shoot her, anything to prevent her from beating on him further.

The gun was gone. He’d lost it as she threw him around.

Sepeti spat on her face, mostly by accident as she punched him in the gut. Her fury hit new heights as she headbutted him. His nose crunched as a couple of his teeth tumbled out of his open mouth.

He rasped as her hand slipped around his throat. Her grip tightened, crushing his windpipe as he struggled to breathe. He flailed, he kicked, he struggled. He wasn’t supposed to die here. Not this early. He had things to do. He had a useless contract to fulfill so he could be a lazy layabout.

A silver claw smacked the woman, knocking Sepeti loose as the dragon came to his rescue. He collapsed in a bloody heap, coughing and spluttering as his aching lungs greedily engorged on all the free air they could hold. Before he could gather himself, pain erupted in his side as he was sent rolling away.

Through blurry eyes, he was able to make out the woman walking toward him, dragging the dragon along by its neck.

“Shit,” he mumbled as he spat a glob of blood into his good palm. He slapped the ground. A massive pulse of magic erupted as his hastily laid back-up plan activated.

The symbols were first. Globs of gelatinous hands reached up from the ground and grabbed every living being. Monsters, humans, everything was quickly encased in amorphous cages of gelatin.

The runes followed. Each one ignited in a specific order. They moved across the destroyed ground, aligning themselves beneath the nearest living being or groups of beings. Once under their targets, the runes flared with light, locking each occupant in place.

The last to activate was the gigantic array that covered the whole cave floor. Energy seeped from the array, melding together above each of the runes and their occupants.

Sepeti floated in his protective jello. He watched as his grand magic whirred to life. His mana bottomed out, the pits of his stomach aching as the magic drained him of every ounce he had left. Darkness beckoned and he gladly accepted the sweet respite of unconsciousness.

Character Screen

Name:

[Sepeti]

Level:

9 (+3)

Class:

*class available

*General learning speed x100

Title:

Dual Contractee, Unhomed

New Skills Acquired!

|Improvised Weapons|, |Weapons Mastery: Ranged| - {Low}, |Passive: Tough It Out|

Partial Magic Learned!

Chanting - {Minor}

Further understanding required...