“This incident could take all those kids away, Antoine, we must improve the city’s defenses as soon as possible. Is that generous dragon still here? I’d like to thank them properly.”

“Her name is Nashariel, Your Holiness. She’s the daughter of two of our Templars, and… she’s the current omnidragon.”

The Arch-bishop remained quiet for a moment, admiring his beloved city from the top of the Bastion. “And so, the cycle begins anew." He sighed, taking a moment to take in what it all meant. "Antoine, tell me, how is she?"

His oldest friend walked to his side, looking where their people were building a giant lighthouse. “She’s an Astillian through and through. We don’t have to worry, Lerios.”

“I’m relieved to hear that,” the projection of the Arch-bishop gave him a sad smile, “but I’m worried about what it means for all of us. Be wary, my friend. I’ll send all the help that I can muster. May our winged Lady protect you.”

With that, Lerios vanished, leaving a frowning Grandmaster by itself. “Grow fast and strong, little one. You will need it. We all will.”

Dan pov

Dan sprinted away at full speed. Behind him, the growls of a giant, pissed-off cat followed. A certain acquaintance of his would have specified that the monster was a Shadow-jaguar. Mostly a nocturnal predator, it killed its prey with a few well-placed critical hits. Alas, his only company was the kitty coming for his butt.

Dan quickly lost ground, sliding below a fallen tree at the last possible moment. A powerful impact, followed by a loud feline hiss, pushed him to accelerate further.

The boy quickly re-casted [Light] to get rid of the shadows directly in front of him. He could almost taste salt in the air. His team was close.

But not enough.

A ton or two worth of cat crashed onto him, fortunately without passing through his armor and [Light’s protection], and he was launched to the tree nearby.

The jaguar had his eyes fixed on him. Its nose was bleeding, but its expression was almost one of delight.

“Well, fuck.” He said, seeing the monster getting close. What a heroic final word, Daniel. I hope someone will write that on your tomb. He snickered to himself.

The jaguar pounced for the kill.

Daniel shut his eyes as strongly as possible. A wet, squelching sound followed by a thud filled his ears with dread.

He waited.

And waited.

…

What? He dared to open his eyes.

The monster’s head stared lifelessly at him, cleanly severed from the rest of the body. Moments later, a fountain of blood gushed out of the corpse’s neck. Dan jumped on a branch of the tree he was against, barely avoiding getting drenched.

His savior disregarded the blood of blood she was standing upon. Her bladed tail calmly swished, still drenched with the blood of her kill. Dan resigned to raise his gaze along the shining metallic armor. He saw her impatient tapping of her hands on her crossed arms. Finally, Dan met her frowning gray eyes locked upon his.

They stared at each other for a while.

“I’m waiting.” She said.

Dan gulped. “H-hello, boss. Fancy meeting you here.” He managed to get out.

She huffed. “Dan, was this guy near the cave, or were you really unlucky? Shadow-jaguars shouldn't be very perceptive at this level." The dragokin started cleaning her kill. An ominous crack of the jaguar’s ribcage emphasized her question as if the beast was laughing at him. Fucking cat.

“It was in front of the cave, sleeping. I got closer, you know, to see if there were others,” He jumped down from his branch, gesturing towards the dead monster, “but it was just… slightly more perceptive than I thought.”

“That’s an understatement alright. Give me a hand, the others are waiting for us. I hope you remember the place, at least?”

Dan nodded, then obliged.

Nashariel was good at many things, protecting their butts first of all, but... Man, she's still awful at carving.

The day Dan and the other kids had entered the Bastion for the first time, Nashariel was just another one of them, if a peculiar-looking one. He didn't think too much of her at the time, save for her curious appearance.

Soon enough, they learned that she was a fricking dragon. The few who had been her classmates hadn’t been surprised, but the rest of them? Oh boy, they got the jitters.

They had needed a long time to get closer to her. Now, five years later, Dan and the others would entrust their lives to her without hesitation.

She tended to take all the tasks upon herself, and be slightly overprotective, but they had found an equilibrium of sorts, after years of working with each other. Better help one time more than necessary than one less, Dan thought looking at their prize. No one wants to become food for monsters.

The silent duo reached the other three members of their team.

Veliel, their siren priestess, scanned him from head to toe. “Found the place, Grand investigator Dan?” She mutely asked, forming bright letters mid-air with her clawed hand. A mocking smirk went from ear to ear, both feathered.

He showed off his brightest grin. “I dare say I did, my fair lady.”

“Then let’s go, my butt can’t stand this rock a second longer.” Grumbled Dorel, their defender and fellow human.

Nashariel, formally their generalist, practically this team’s and others’ scholar nodded. "Let's go."

As usual, Dorel stood ahead, disregarding even the most basic notion of stealth. He and Veliel walked in the center, protected by Nashariel in the back.

With their fifth year of training, they had been allowed to take low-priority Quests, such as their current one. This gathering Quest wasn’t hard per se, but it required a few ingredients a bit far from the city, where monsters like that Shadow-jaguar roamed free.

They had been temporarily supplied a Spatial-bag capable of holding a warehouse or so. Veliel guarded it, since she was the only one who was supposed to stay away from melee combat. The presence of Nashariel swayed the instructors to take the risk, and it went unsaid between Dan and his team that they wouldn’t speak about his stunt. Their favorite dragoness would’ve been punished, after all.

The Quest's special objective required them to retrieve a special kind of flower that grew in toxic environments or places exposed to poison magic. Nashariel told them that she knew a place, the one that Dan found.

Strangely, the dragoness had blushed when she told them.

Anyway, they arrived. Not too distant from the road, but not close either, the team found a cave.

Purple grass decorated the clearing, with bright green mushrooms growing on trees and directly out of rocks.

Dan pointed at a patch of slightly flattened grass. “The jaguar was there.”

Nashariel sniffed the air, sneezing a moment later. “Damn, this stinks. I don’t detect other monsters nearby, but I’m not sure. Be careful.”

“That should be my job, boss.” He told her gently.

She looked abashed. “Sorry…”

She was improving. “It’s fine.” Dan closed his eyes. He cast various detection spells, extending himself to the limit. “Nothing here, but I don’t know about the cave.”

The rest of his team nodded, somewhat relaxing. The flower wasn’t in the clearing, but those plants were useful in their own way.

Probably. Perhaps. Hopefully?

Nashariel and Dorel stood guard in front of the cave, the former trying to peek inside utilizing her innate ability to see in the dark.

Dan was in his element. His mother was a florist that rounded as a full herbalist. He kinda dug the idea of learning alchemy, together with becoming a full-fledged Inquisitor, since it was something that required more technique and experience than raw Skills.

Shaking his head, he examined the grass with [Herbalist's eye]. Focus!

*Poison-grass

A type of plant exclusive of toxic environments.

Normal grass that died and regrew after being exposed to powerful poison magic, this grass is a common ingredient in both toxic concoctions and antidotes.

Quality: Low. *

As expected, nothing outstanding, but every little bit helps. Dan hoped for more, so he carefully searched for the darkest, and foulest, patch of grass. They couldn’t just strip everything down, after all, not if they wanted a continuous supply. The boy refreshed his protection, then quickly took its cut.

On the other side, Veliel was doing the same with mushrooms. They quickly stored everything.

The trees were either fully rotten or untouched by the poisonous environment, so nothing of value to harvest from them. Cave time.

Nashariel was looking above the said cave but reported nothing.

“Are you sure that a flower is inside?” Veliel wrote to the other girl.

She shrugged. “I haven’t studied much herbology, yet, but I read that they grow in dark places. I'd say that it's worth a shot. Worst come to worst, we'll just harvest something else and fail the bonus objective. Do you agree?" The dragoness looked at each one of them.

They all nodded.

“What’s the worst that can happen?” Said Dan.

Nashariel groaned.

The team ventured into the cave.

Some time later, an unarticulated, high-pitched scream came out of Dan's mouth.

“Dan, less shouting, more chopping!” Dorel shouted, a tentacle slamming against his tower shield.

“It just ate my daggers!”

“Then make,” a slam interrupted Dorel, “some more!”

The colorful exchange was stopped by a magnificent voice, powerful enough to make Dan’s chest reverberate.

Visible sound waves impacted the massive plant-thing currently engaged with the four of them, while another song sung by a storm of razors impacting one another accompanied it.

The plant monster groaned, the sound similar to cracking bark then exhaled its toxic breath.

*You have been poisoned.

-13 Hp/s*

The system kindly informed Dan, as he felt his stomach twist and his breakfast yearning to say hello again. Goodness gracious, you stink so gods-damned awful.

Thanks to their ‘special’ training, he and the team had built a powerful resistance against all the basic elements. Special as in daily bouts with an elemental-changing dragon. Their boss was weird. They were weirder since they accepted.Eh.

Dan shook his head. Focus. He whispered an incantation, forming daggers made of solid light. Weaker than the real thing, but better than punching the thing to death.

The aspiring inquisitor re-engaged their enemy, flanking it and abusing its blind spots. Carefully avoiding the tentacle-like roots, he stabbed the thing in its mid-section. Light cracks shone under the rotten bark, the monster moaning like a gust of sad wind.

Nashariel had decided that punching was, in fact, preferable. She was currently beating the unholy crap out of one of the monster’s eyes, having the time of her life. Her spear was fully embedded in the other.

Dorel kept Taunting the thing, each strike sent on its way quickly reflected back.

At some point, Nashariel was swallowed.

The team quickly increased their output tenfold, trying to rescue the boss.

The monster paused as if confused. Then a scaled hand burst through its head, holding a large purple flower.

“I fhgo ut!” Came the muffled shout.

The monster stopped flailing, slowly sinking down.

The trio struck as one.

“Are you sure that ‘dark places’ weren’t ‘monster’s insides’? ‘Cause I’m not sure about gathering more flowers.” Grumbled Dorel.

They had hacked the monster and its strange flesh, half bark half plant, to pieces, then Veliel proceeded to wash the poisoned blood from Nashariel. Just how resistant are you?

She was thoughtful. “I don’t think so, but I’m not sure. Someone dragged me out of the library before I could read properly.” Nashariel gave Dorel a side glance.

“Last time we waited for you for days, and the Quest was completed before we even started.”

The dragoness pouted. “I believe in careful preparations."

While the argument ensued, Dan strategically retreated further into the cave. He had some scouting to do.

When the group entered, they found that the cave was just an entrance to an underground system, almost labyrinth-like, illuminated by shining blue mushrooms attached to the side walls. The deeper they went, the more powerful monsters they met.

They decided to venture ahead until they met the plant monster. Dan had been too concentrated on fighting the thing to use [Identify], so only the notification enlightened him. They had faced a Poison-Bark horror, Lvl 79. Not terribly high, but on the verge of being considered an inappropriate challenge for them, if many other monsters like that were present.

Now Dan stared at the first crossroad, pondering about what to do. The Quest had been updated as complete. However, the more resources they brought back, the more coins they could gather and, maybe, they could get to do better Quests. Yet it wasn’t worth losing even a single member of his team for greed.

The familiar stomps behind Dan warned him about the presence of the team.

“Left, right, or back?” Asked Dorel.

“I’m not sure. I can hear things in both directions, but I have no idea about what expect us.”

They turned to Nashariel.

The dragoness stood still, listening. "On our right, there's something that would require my dragon form. Our left should be safe, in theory.” She stated, deadly serious.

They found easier to form their teamwork if the boss kept a human form, but she was much more powerful in her true self, considering both her natural armor and area damage. And mass, but they didn’t tell her that.

“Should we split? Or go back?” Asked Dan.

Nashariel frowned in worry. “I say that we see what’s in the rooms. If you think you can tackle with it, go ahead. I’ll go right.”

Dan nodded.

He carefully made his way towards the next room. The shrooms kept getting brighter, almost to the point of being annoying. Water drops fell both in front of him and in the distance, the puddles yet another obstacle for his stealth.

Dan finally arrived at a corner, peeking on the other side.

Wolf-like creatures with hair-like tentacles feasted on a large version of the bright mushrooms and a Poison-Bark horror.

*Wood/Curse-Horror hunter Lvl 76-79

??? *

Nope. Nope. Nope. Very carefully, Dan strode backward, breaking into a run halfway in.

Alerted, his other two companions unsheathed their weapons.

“Dual variant. Pack. Lvl 76-79.” The rogue managed to spurt out. His friends’ faces paled.

Dual variants were beyond what they could manage safely, even if their own levels were higher. Most monsters at higher tiers possessed another element or two, and the young Templars definitely weren’t ready for that.

As one, they turned to the other tunnel, the same thought probably echoing in their minds.

If this was the safe way, what the heck lurks around that corner?

A roar echoed in the cave, so loud that the stones rattled, some falling from the ceiling.

The group rushed towards their scaled boss.

A metal dragon was tackling with an abomination.

The plant was a giant version of the one they faced not long ago. Many eyes spied them from protected cracks in the monster’s bark. A dense sludge leaked from its giant maw, making the floor a slippery trap, not counting the purple toxic fumes emanating from it. This monster had doubled the number of tentacles in its evolution, a number of them laid unmoving, cleanly cut.

*Poison-Greater bark horror Lvl 109

??? *

The boss was salivating the diluted color of the sludge, but Dan could clearly notice the excitement of a good fight flaring in her eyes. A storm of razors surrounded her, bending to her will with utmost loyalty. Her blade tail, resembling a spear, kept the monster in check.

The rogue sensed the mana building in Nashariel’s throat. Fortunately for them, Dorel pushed his way ahead.

The human planted his tower shield in the ground, a large barrier of light extending the cover to double its area. Veliel and Dan dashed behind it.

A powerful wave rebounded against the shield, moving Dorel back half-meter or so.

Peeking from behind their defender, the rogue could see the devastation Nashariel had wrought.

Her breath had dug deep gouges in the ground, razors sticking out of it like a multitude of shining teeth before vanishing soon after.

The other monster was reduced to pieces, its body gushing waves of black blood. Its lost limbs slowly regrew, the monster roaring its disappointment.

Nashariel replied in kind. The titans clashed once more.

“I’m going in.” Veliel wrote.

The siren started to sing.

An enchanting voice permeated the battlefield, piercing the clattering of metal and wood without difficulty. There were no lyrics in this song, only melody.

Dan and Dorel, being the closest, resisted only thanks to their training, as did Nashariel.

The Horror turned to face Veliel, utterly captivated by the amazing singer.

The boss exploited the distraction. She extended her wing as long as possible, paralleling the ground, then charged, using the slippery ground to her advantage.

The two humans didn’t hesitate either. Dan formed a bunch of light daggers, throwing them all along the monster’s body.

Dorel reabsorbed the light in his shield, which then released a thin white beam, lashing out all its stored damage.

Meanwhile, Nashariel’s blade slashed through half the monster’s face. Then the large dragon’s footwork let her retreat the limb and slash with the other.

Too late, the monster saw the massive draconic jaws closing in, ripping its head in half.

*Poison-Greater bark horror Lvl 109 defeated.

Rewards: 13 free stats, 7 skill points.

Dan Lightbloom Lvl up!

78-> 80 *

Dan grinned in happiness, as did his team.

Nashariel had returned to her dragokin form, already deep in the monster’s ‘guts’ to find another flower. Moments later, she came out holding it.

Large, black petals adorned a sickly green center, the stem being the same purple as the monster’s poison. Definitely not my mother's favorites.

*Poison-Horror’s seed.

A flower that has grown in toxins since its spawn.

Sometimes called ‘fetid seed’, these flowers can spawn multiple poisonous monsters or fuel the growth of a single lucky specimen. It can be used in painful concoctions or powerful antidotes against rot and poison.

Quality: medium. *

“We did it!” He shouted.

Nashariel nodded, then shifted in her light form. Dan’s regenerations shot up in an instant.

He admired a close mushroom like it held the secret of life.

Dorel polished his shield as if his life depended on it.

There was a reason or two for why the boss remained in her metal form when she was a dragokin. Mainly, not spending a fortune on clothes.

“Wanna keep going?” Nashariel asked, as soon as the light waned. She tapped her foot once, making the armor clang.

“Lemme see…” Dan walked to the other side of the ‘room’. Meanwhile, his team stored the monster as a whole. And a few shrooms, ‘cause why not.

To his senses and spells, the closest turn of the cave looped around. [Scout’s memory] told him that there was a high chance that they would meet the wolves from this side. He told as much to his team.

They unanimously voted to follow the remainder of the loop to go back.

While the team walked, Veliel wrote. “Where do you think these horrors come from? Plant-type monsters usually stay in one place.”

“I’m not sure,” replied Nashariel, “but monsters seek their element to grow more attuned to it. They probably felt the poison outside and nested here.” She paused for a moment, then told them why the outside was poisonous.

Dan snickered.

“And the wolf-things?”

“Judging by their name, they are both their predators and horrors themselves. Eating an attuned monster is even more effective than simply sitting in one place, after all.”

“That’s fucky.” Commented Dorel.

“Language please.” The dragokin replied absentmindedly.

Dan’s skill proved right soon after.

The group was in the room he saw before, but the monsters had fled. The mostly munched remains of the horror and the large shroom greeted them silently.

“Monsters on the run. Wonderful.” Grumbled Dorel.

The group quickly dashed out of the cave, Dan already casting his spells. It turned out to be unnecessary, as the monsters made themselves known.

The monsters howled from above the cave, pouncing on them a breath later. The younglings were too surprised to react.

Dan felt the monster’s jaws closing on his head, held back by the combined effort of Veliel’s spell and his helm. Unfortunately, such protection did little to hold off the monster’s magic.

Cold, bone-deep ice flowed in his body, sapping away his health.

An angry, Taunting roar had the predators' heads snap towards its source.

A scowling dragokin.

They pounced on her as if she had just insulted their mothers, fangs exposed and dripping with hunger. Once they got closer, the tentacles on their back joined in the attack.

Nashariel jumped backward, welcoming them with her metallic breath. Miniscule, sharp particles assaulted the monsters' eyes. They bled sap-like tears, but their bark mostly resisted the storm.

Veliel sang once more, enchanting even her allies for a moment. The monster resisted the mind control, but they slowed down, somewhat.

Dorel shouted his [Taunt] at a single wolf, his skill much more powerful and evolved than Nashariel’s.

Dan waited until the foaming wolf slammed its head against the defender’s tower shield, before dashing in. [Improved critical] and [Maiming strike] worked in tandem to cut the monsters’ tendons, bark or not.

The beast yelped, turning towards him. Two of its tentacles missed their mark, but the third pierced Dan’s barrier like nothing, digging down to the bone. Too much damage in a short time.

Dan felt his shoulder crack, his limb falling uselessly on his side, then the same coldness as before bit him from within. He felt drowsy, drunk maybe, but managed to not succumb to it. Barely.

Veliel hiccupped her song, staring at him wide-eyed. She summoned mana in her hands, sending him a weak heal, which gave Dan some much-needed warmth.

The rogue thanked the siren with a gesture and a smirk. He noticed that he had fallen on his knees, so he stood back on.

Dorel was holding on as best as he could, his shield had been battered so much that it was folding on itself. Greenish blood ran along his short sword, one of the wolf’s tentacles failing uselessly and severed on the ground.

A wave of heat clashed on the humans and the siren, the sweat immediately sticking their clothes to their bodies. Powerful, heavy stomps shook the trees, a furious roar ringing in their ears.

No time to turn around and look, Dan struck the shocked horror, finishing the work he started moments ago. This time he successfully evaded the retaliatory strike.

In a blur, a monster flashed in front of his eyes, slamming against the cave. It didn’t get up.

Veliel stopped singing, chanting a spell instead. The light-gray magical circle broke, motes of light dissolving inside her throat. “Cover your ears!” She shouted, far louder than she should have been able to do, so much that her voice lost most of its supernatural beauty.

The humans quickly obeyed, hoping that the boss heard that.

The siren paused.

A breath passed.

Two.

She inhaled deeply.

On the third breath, the most wretched, piercing, horrible high-pitched scream boomed in the clearing, stunning all the combatants.

Dan’s ears ringed, bleeding soon after. His consciousness wavered, putting his will to stay awake under a huge strain. Again.

Eventually, the scream blessedly faded to a stop.

Dan quickly glanced at his teammates. Veliel was coughing violently, spitting azure-colored blood. Dorel was holding it together slightly better than him. Turning to the giant dragon nearby, Dan saw Nashariel holding the last unconscious predator in her jaws.

A single crunch ended it all, and the dragoness fell on the grass with a heavy thud. She was covered in scratches, some deeper than others.

“A simple gathering mission my ass.” The rogue said, finally dropping his above-mentioned butt down to rest.

Dorel was sprawled on the ground, heaving for breath. “Fucking flowers.”

“Yep.”

“Yeah.”

Veliel raised both of her thumbs.

It felt good to be on the same page.

“Next time that someone challenges fate, I’ll bonk them. Hard.” Grunted Nashariel in dragon form.

Fuck, she remembered.