“Except for the ever-warring kingdom of Khertes, the citizens of most countries like to believe that they have nothing to fear from their neighbors, as their leaders tell them.

It’s a lie.”

-Sage Sarianna, historian of the continent of Nortanis, the so-called ‘safe zone.’

Nashariel pov

The dragoness soared above the ocean as an air dragon, her fastest form. She had eyes only for the monster and the screaming sailors, ignoring the wind whistling furiously in her ears. Nashariel rammed the monster’s flank, launching it into the ocean. The wave its body created drenched her from tip to toe.

The ship’s hull had cracked under the monster’s weight, collapsing in a few points above the waterline. All that was left of the mast was a sad broken stump.

The sailors were staring at her, uneasiness filling the air. “No time for staring, move it! NOW!” Shouted the captain, slamming his hands just as loudly. He nodded at her. “Thank you for the assistance, dragon." He dashed to the helm, shouting the rest of the crew many passionate encouragements, setting Nashariel's ears on fire.

As one, the crew chanted wind and water spells. The ship rotated on itself until it faced the safe harbor.

The omnidragon hovered above the ship, keeping an eye on the lake of blood below her.

Suddenly, the monster’s tail shot for her chest, almost too quick even for her heightened perception.

[Improved flight] and her awareness allowed Nashariel to twirl, sacrificing only part of her wing’s membrane instead of getting impaled on the spot. The appendage’s bone-bladed edges made a mess of her relatively thin membrane, tearing it from top to bottom. The dragoness roared in agony, freefalling into the ocean. She could barely make out the shouts of the crew.

Nashariel's brain stopped her from breathing a mouthful of the ocean. The omnidragon switched to Water, filling her half-empty lungs. She found herself face to face with the monster, finally getting a good look at it.

The beast was a crimson and blue striped manta ray, larger than her by a good margin. A dozen smaller monsters surrounded it, all staring at Nashariel with hunger. The dried, mangled husk of the unfortunate sailor floated aimlessly among them.

*Blood-seeking piranha (dark ???) Lvl 42-45

These monsters hunt in rivers and seas as a swarm, counting on their numbers to prevail. Their blood affinity allows them to??? Bleeding isn't recommended.

Blood-manta ray (dark ???) Lvl 78

As opposed to the peaceful Water-manta rays, the fire burning in these specimens pushes them to hunt relentlessly. Often found leading shoals of weaker creatures, these monsters can??? Beware its???

This specimen is??? *

Nashariel’s heartbeat quickened, her wounded wing pulsed faster. She managed to seal her rising panic into the back of her mind, doing her best to think fast and cold. The blood-saturated water she was breathing didn’t help one bit. I’m not sure if I can take them all. Well, I don’t have to defeat them, only buy dad some time. But I must survive first! Swiftly expending her points, Nashariel boosted vitality and resilience to slow down their health drain.

As Nashariel was distracted by her status, sharp pain exploded on her body. The monsters exploited the opening, happily tearing into her body. The thickening draconic scales held them off, but not for long.

A flurry of harpoons rained down on the monsters, wounding the big one and a few others.

The enraged manta charged at the sailing ship once more, to her guilty relief. That thing would have been too much for her. She prayed to Astill, asking Her to protect both her and the crew.

Refocusing, Nashariel started to fight back.

The monsters, much like their unevolved cousins, used a hit and run-based tactic. To Nashariel, this was much like a ballet, one that she needed to perfectly execute with a dozen partners at the same time.

One careless, wounded dancer swirled too close to her paw.

Nashariel didn’t miss the chance, snatching it and squeezing with all her might. The monster’s flesh held for a good ten seconds before giving in. The body popped like a water balloon, the augmented resilience instantly abandoning the corpse. Her hand ached.

Meanwhile, the other monsters didn’t remain idle.

Bite marks and slashes soon amassed on the dragoness’ body. She simply couldn’t keep up. Should’ve upgraded dexterity, she mentally grumbled. Her HP were still in the green, despite the state of her body.

A pair of piranhas charged the dragoness from the mangled wing’s side. She noticed, and instead of her flesh, they received a tail strike on their drooling maws.

Unfortunately, Nashariel missed another piranha diving straight into her neck. It broke her precious scales, finally drawing blood. The monster fell into a frenzy, repeatedly biting the same spot, its eyes glowing a pinkish red.

Nashariel ripped it out, the persistent monster clenching and unclenching its jaws into the bloodied water. The fish was insistently trying to wiggle out, forcing Nashariel to activate her [Venom], searching for any kind of edge. The poison didn’t have a noticeable effect. The omnidragon twirled on herself, repelling the other monsters.

Before the frenzied monster could slip through her grasp, Nashariel unleashed her breath on its exposed head. The water-jet inflicted a grievous wound, but the monster still lived. Until the dragoness bit its head off.

*Blood-seeking piranha (dark ???) Lvl 42 defeated.

Hunt rewards: 2 stats and skill points.

Ambient essence absorbed: +6 stat, 2 skill points.

Improved swimming 4-> 5 *

Nashariel counted ten monsters remaining. She grimaced. I can’t keep going like this! If they receive the same buff as this one... I must upgrade!

*Improved swimming 5-> 20

Draconic fighting style (II) 4-> 20

Improved swimming cap

Swimming during perilous situations is furtherly facilitated.

Break the cap cost: 10 points.

Draconic fighting style (II) cap

Backlashes you suffer are moderately reduced.

Your general coordination is slightly increased, but only during combat.

See status for additional information.

Remaining points: 34 *

The difference was like night and day. The water seemingly bent around Nashariel, instead of actively opposing her movements. The monsters attacked her once more, however…

Nashariel spun around, using her healthy wing to violently crash a charging piranha into another, then she charged her breath with mana.

The [Dragon’s breath] shimmered in blue hues, a beautiful sight if in another situation. The water jet easily punctured both monsters' flesh, a pair of notifications ringing in her ears.

She threw off her plan to wait for reinforcements, and resolved to get out of here by her own claws and fangs.

The remaining blood-seeking piranhas also decided to stop playing around. They attacked from all directions, their forms still nimbler and faster than the dragoness.

Her battered scales soon gave in under the pressure, her blood freely flowing together with the rest. The monsters all fell into the same frenzy.

Nashariel gave it her all.

For every bite, her claws found purpose. For every assault, a twist. The monsters paid for every drop of her blood with their own.

She was a dragon, they were fishes.

And now she could fight back.

* Hp: 1456/3930

Mana: 585/1200

Stamina: 890/1830

Omnidragon Lvl up!

Level 40-> 41

Blood-seeking piranha (dark???) Lvl 43-45 defeated.

Hunt rewards: 24 stats, 12 skill points

Ambient essence absorbed: 12 stats, 4 skill points. *

Heaving, Nashariel tore into the last monster.

It had been a few minutes at worst, but they felt like hours.

She was utterly exhausted and in a world of pain, but she forced herself to keep going. The big one was still alive.

She stared at the miraculously, mostly-intact body of the deceased sailor. She took a deep breath, then gently took him in her hand. It was the right thing to do.

Nashariel swam to the surface, taking a look at how things were going without blood getting in her way. As expected, the large monster was assaulting the ship, but the crew was retaliating in kind. The approaching Templars were casting spells left and right to support the people and damage the monster. The dragoness debated if her intervention was even necessary. She expelled all the water from her lungs, shifted into the Light form, and healed herself with her breath.

Nashariel put forty points into essence, bringing it on par with endurance, to gain some needed mana and regenerate it faster. Maybe it was the corpse in her hand, maybe it was the bad day, but Nashariel wasn’t exactly in the mood to analyze how best to split among power and essence for faster healing. The rest of her stats went into vitality.

Her health quickly ticking up, the dragoness swam like an alligator towards the fight. Necessary or not, making a fight easier hurt no one. Wishing for a skill that improved her mana regeneration, Nashariel dived under, searching for an opportunity. She left the sailor floating towards a boat.

From below, the water dragon observed the unsuspecting monster. Its tail often lunged towards the combatants, returning empty and scraped moments later.

A few other bodies littered the water, a reminder that her slow and steady approach had had a cost. Nashariel clenched her fists, taking in a deep breath. Later, now it’s time to finish this!

She roared in anger and sorrow, her jaws clamping on the manta’s tail, biting deep. Its blood flowing, the monster let out another whistle-roar, flailing Nashariel like a doll.

The dragoness held on with all she had, strengthening her grip further and further. Above her, the Templars were getting more aggressive. The concussion of their skills and spells met Nashariel, even when shielded by the water and the monster.

The girl spotted something strange from here. Something was shining a crimson light from the manta’s chest, burrowed in a pus-filled wound. The slower the monster moved, the more brilliant this thing shone, the harder the Templars hit. Even someone untrained as Nashariel could feel the raw mana pouring out of the spherical object.

The flow of her thoughts was interrupted by her teeth meeting with each other. The monster’s roar was so loud and filled with pain, that Nashariel almost took pity on him. Looking at the floating corpses, almost was the keyword.

The sphere shone like the sun at noon.

Increasingly agitated, Nashariel approached. The Templars would soon finish the monster, no reason to worry. She got close-

*…

…

Omnidragon kin pierces concealment.

Powerful essence source detected.

Source: Conflagration/Dark attuned core.

(???) successfully identified as-> Core-touched.

Absorb Conflagration-Core?

Time required: 10 minutes.

Y/N? *

Conflagration as in…? Nashariel’s eyes widened, almost bulging out of their sockets. An exploding core was bad news, especially with so many people near it. She didn’t even think about absorbing it.

The dragoness madly swam towards the shining Core. She shoved her claws within the wound, butchering the monster as quickly as possible, ignoring the green-yellow substance sticking to her claws. Nashariel slashed until the thing was out with a disgusting plop.

Its pulses hastened as Nashariel grasped it, realizing that she had no more time. A ding tolled in her head, the Core immediately starting to shriek. Thinking fast, Nashariel kicked with all her limbs as fast and powerful as she could, [Improved swimming]'s upgrade proving all its worth.

Reaching the seabed, she shifted into the Earth dragon. Lastly, she shoved all her points into resilience.

Just as she curled around the sphere, the shriek stopped.

This is gonna hurt sooooooo much… she thought, just before an ear-shattering explosion robbed her of consciousness.

Nashariel didn’t know how much time had passed.

She kept waking and drifting out, catching only glimpses of what was happening around her. A memory that stuck to her was her father transporting her unmoving body on his shoulders, seemingly uncaring about the sheer mass difference between them. Somehow, the girl managed to muster enough will to return to her dragokin form.

Fortunately, or unfortunately, Nashariel couldn’t feel pain. Actually, she couldn’t feel anything at all, but she saw the crowd of Templars surrounding her and her father, all wearing a determined look on their faces. Their hands were shining bright, washing her with sparse waves of relief. Nashariel noticed that she could breathe only during those times.

Thalom and the Templars were madly dashing, the surroundings only a blur to the girl. Her father kept repeating words, but the sound was muffled and Nashariel couldn't distinguish between them. She looked down at her body and instantly closed her eyes.

It wasn’t a pretty sight.

Nashariel fainted once more.

The first thing that Nashariel felt once she woke up was the softness of a bed. It wasn't hers, but it was even cozier.

Her chest was sore, but… Nashariel’s eyes snapped open. Her green scales told her, she was still in her earth form. Her body was clothed with a plain white dress.

On the other hand, the small, simple room was unfamiliar to her. It was primarily white and gold with a subtle, but pleasant, smell of incense and herbal remedies permeating the air. Nashariel could hear people’s muffled voices in rooms near her. Ah, this is the hospital, then.

Astillians were known among all nations for their dedication to healing arts, both because of their patron goddess’ nature and a generally kind disposition. As a result, clinics were widespread throughout all the territory, be it in cities or the wilds, with a single hospital in large towns, reserved for true emergencies.

The only true hospital in Andriel was situated in the Bastion. There, the best healers in the whole country worked their magic on the patients above the capabilities of lower-leveled colleagues. People on the brink of death, victims of generational curses, people with more poison than blood in their veins, and so on.

Realizing that she had been transported here, Nashariel broke into a cold sweat. Was I that close to dying? If I hadn’t invested all those points in vitality and resilience… the omnidragon shuddered. I hope that no one was close to me. Shaking her head, she opened her status.

*Blood-manta ray (Dark-Core touched) Lvl 78 defeated.

Hunt rewards: 10 stat points, 6 skill points.

Ambient essence absorbed: 22 stats, 8 skill points.

Omnidragon Lvl up!

Sand lurker Lvl 43-46 (Dark-core touched) (x6) defeated.

Hunt rewards: 6 stats, 2 skill points.

Quest: First steps

Objective: Kill twenty creatures above your level.

Reward: 100 stat points and 20 skill points.

Bonus objective: Be victorious against a powerful enemy.

Additional reward: Omnidragon-tier skill.

Reward available to be chosen in the status.

Name: Nashariel Holyshield

Race: Omnidragon (young)

Age: 13

Current humanoid form: Human dragokin

Current attunement: Earth

Level: 41-> 42

Available stat points: 106

Available skill points: 90

Strength: 230 - 345

Power: 140 - 210

Resilience: 384 – 576

Vitality: 286 – 429

Dexterity: 220 - 330

Awareness: 180 - 270

Essence: 120 - 180

Endurance: 122 - 183

Hp: 4290/4290

Mana: 1800/1800

Stamina: 1830/1830

Skills:

Racial:

Omnidragon kin (minor) Lvl -

Omnidragon prowess Lvl 20-capped

Dragon’s breath (II) Lvl 2-> 3

Dragon’s fighting style (II) Lvl 20-capped

Air:

Improved flight Lvl 2-> 3

Water:

Venom Lvl 3

Improved swimming Lvl 20-capped

Improved learning Lvl 6

Identify Lvl 2-> 3

Earth:

Improved burrow Lvl 1

Fire:

Fury Lvl 3

Light:

Improved healing Lvl 1-> 5

Light’s refuge Lvl 1

Dark:

Stealth Lvl 2-> 4 *

Oh well, on a positive note, I learned to not stand near explosions! The girl tried to cheer herself up.

*Improved learning Lvl 6-> 7 *

Nashariel snorted.

She debated between staying in bed and standing. Even if her resources were maxed out, the omnidragon had problems staying awake. She opted to rest for a while, replaying the fight in her mind.

Simply put, charging in by herself had not been her brightest idea. Still better than standing aside, but suicidal charges benefited no one, as her father drilled into her. Opening her status again, Nashariel looked at it and grimaced. I was woefully unprepared, she decided.

Stats aside, her skills were under-leveled, low in number, and she had never fought underwater. The first part of the fight had been a perfect training ground, as her father thought. The lurkers were… ok. A challenge, but still well within her abilities.

The fact that she had not immediately invested her skill points against a swarm of variants led by something twice her level, and with a hybrid attunement at that, screamed pure greed.

There was a fine line between bravery and stupidity, and Nashariel felt like she had crossed all the way to the latter. While that situation had been only partially decided by her, Nashariel still tried to reap the most rewards possible, and she almost paid the ultimate price for it. Even if [Omnidragon prowess] would have increased tenfold her points at its evolution, death was a pretty significant obstacle for spending them.

Less hoarding, more spending. Nashariel resolved to do another round in the chambers, taking a look at the skills offered by and limited to specific forms.

She drifted to sleep soon after.

Nashariel woke up. The sun was shining brightly throughout the window. It was half-morning or so. Near her bed, her parents were sleeping on two chairs. They had bags under their eyes. A pang of guilt crossed Nashariel. Yet another reason to be more careful. “Mom? Dad? I’m awake.”

The two sleeping humans bolted upright, their eyes immediately snapping to her.

"Nashariel!" They echoed, each hugging one side in a crushing grip. They let out a few hiccups, before letting her go.

The dragoness wasn’t able to look into their eyes. “Sorry…”

Thalom waved her off. “I should have stopped you, it’s my fault. Still, charging in like that… what were you thinking?”

“I heard them screaming, and I just… couldn’t ignore it.”

Lianna caressed her hair. “It’s fine, dear, you are safe now. That’s… that’s all that matters.” She took Nashariel in another hug, less tight but warmer. Thalom joined a moment later.

They remained like that for a while.

“What happened to the others?” Asked Nashariel as the family exited from the Bastion. They planned to spend a few days together, helping the young girl to recover with light exercise. Nashariel suspected that she was under strict surveillance for a while, but she didn't protest. She had planned to do a 'light exercise' with the forest's inhabitants, after all.

“Drenched, but fine. That Core... I can’t believe that none of us sensed it.” Thalom grunted.

“The monster’s essence was masking it, and it’s the first time something like this happened. How did you notice it, dear?”

The perfect cobblestone, and the aid of her parents, helped Nashariel to walk.

She had slept for three days, and the total lack of movement was showing. Maybe staying away from fighting was an actual good idea. She shrugged. “I was swimming under the monster. I thought that disabling the tail could be helpful,” Thalom gave her an approving nod, “and I saw it. I didn’t know what it was, only that it seemed an infection of sorts, but Omni… a certain skill of mine told me that the monster was touched by a Core attuned to Conflagration and Darkness. Then, you know… the rest happened.”

Lianna stroked her hair, looking ponderous. "Why did you think it was an infection?"

Nashariel described what she saw as best as she could. Her parents exchanged a frown. “Why that look?”

“We thought that this had been an impressive spike of misfortune, but the concealment means that this was a deliberate aggression.”

“Lia, if this is the case, you should warn Thomas and Nicholas. They must waste no time.”

The priestess nodded. She kissed her daughter’s forehead. “Sorry dear, I must go. We’ll meet at dinner, okay?”

Before Nashariel had a chance to reply, her mother briefly chanted an incantation, vanishing on the spot. The people walking nearby grumbled about safe spots and mages.

The omnidragon looked at her father with an interrogative expression.

“After the,” he quoted with his fingers, “‘accident,’ Nick and Tom offered themselves to investigate other possible shoals coming here. If this wasn’t simply a wild monster attack, then we need more people to punish those who did this. And, to be honest…” His gaze flashed with a dangerous light, his fists clenching to the point that his knuckles whitened. “I want to be part of that team.”