After watching this happen again and again, I reexamined the dragon.

It doesn't seem to be able to move from its spot. It's also using some innate nature magic to manipulate the branches. Perhaps analyzing this creature longer can get me an accurate read on its level.

"You got this, Rob! Fighting!"

I [Empower] Rob and gift him... you know what? Let's lend him one of my titles. I want to see if [Master's Gift] can handle such a feat.

Let's see... Ignoring the dubious ones... [Proud Owner of a Rock], [Fell the Mighty], [Butcher], [Life Bringer], [Swarmbane] [Colossus Slayer], [Prey on the Weak], [On the Edge] [Infanticide], [Baptized by Lightning], or [Scholar].

I'll ignore the titles that give stats. I can do that with [Master's Gift] anyways. I think... It's between [Butcher] and [Colossus Slayer].

Do shovels count as bladed weapons? If so, I would give him [Butcher]. A total of 50% more damage versus 45% then. But if Rob attacks him with anything that isn't bladed, the bonus would drop to 25%.

Hmm...

I'll go with [Colossus Slayer]. This is an apt use of such a feat.

The dragon is well over ten times Rob's height and probably hundreds of times heavier.

Rob keeps losing.

Unless the dragon gets distracted, Rob can't utilize his stealth. There's nothing to hide behind up here.

His ranged options for attacking fail to reach the dragon. A wall of branches can easily block any amount of [Bone Shot]s or shovels coming the dragon's way.

Perhaps Rob is going for a battle of attrition.

Khan came back after purging half the bird population. Now all my beasts are level 135... excluding Prometheus.

Name / Nickname

Rob / Little Buddy

Species

Skeleton Gravelord B (Rare)

Level

135 (60m/600m)

Evolution Requirements

Not Met

~

Health Points

455/455 | 910/910 (+100%)

Mana Points

700/700

Armor Points

5 | 10 (+100%)

(AN: Rob gets double health and armor in his domain. He isn't in his domain. The first set of numbers for health and armor are the unmodified ones.)

Might

195 (100 > 150 + 20% + 15)

Agility

345 (200 > 250 + 20% + 45)

Vigor

91 (50 > 72 + 20% + 10 - 5)

Mind

140 (75 > 100 + 20% + 20)

Spirit

175 (75 > 100 + 20% + 20 + 35)

Dexterity

236 (112 > 150 + 20% + 56)

Rob prolongs the fight long enough for me to get an accurate reading on the dragon's level, all without getting within melee with the dragon. Not that Rob could if he wanted to.

[Verdant Dragon A Lv222]

Unfortunately, Rob's battle of attrition will be cut short. I don't have an indiscriminate amount of time to spend. However, I don't want to throw away Rob's efforts for nothing.

Why is Rob up here in the first place? I told him to find some loot, so loot is nearby.

Dragon hoard? Ancient relic? Maybe Rob really wants dragon bones. Getting some shed dragon scales or any other substance this dragon can produce would get us a pretty penny.

"Duchess, can you go talk to the dragon or something?"

[About what?]

"Reaching an agreement."

Wait a minute.

"Wait, I feel like this entire situation is strange. Ask why it's here in the first place."

I can't forget that this is a low-level, cursed Zerg fracture. What the fuck is a legendary creature doing here?

[If negotiations go south, are you confident you can take a level 222 in their terrain in a fight? A dragon at that?]

"Nope. That WE, as a team, can do it." I give her a thumbs up. "Plus, it's not confirmed that we'll need to fight."

[Uh huh.]

"Can you even speak dragon or whatever?"

[...]

"Duchess?"

[It's a bloodline thing.]

"Okay."

I'm on Duchess' back in case I need to protect her. With her current proficiency in [Mind Magic], she only needs to be within 500 feet of her target to talk to them.

Rob still relentlessly charges at the dragon while Duchess hovers in the air. The dragon arcs his head and looks at Duchess.

The dragon gives an annoyed grunt and starts speaking that mind-boggling language. It makes my mind buzz... makes something buzz.

Without the powerful baritone, the dragon language sounds a bit warbled.

I silently gift her most of my charisma stat.

"..."

And wait.

"How-"

[Shhh.]

"Sorry."

The conversation was enough to distract the dragon momentarily. Rob managed to get within melee of the dragon. More accurately, he got within the dragon's melee range.

He gets thwacked by the dragon's tail and is sent flying in multiple pieces. Rob tried to dodge but failed.

He mostly reassembles before hitting the canopy's roof, but the landing makes his pieces scatter again.

The dragon momentarily looks at his tail, and I notice a shovel sticking out. It's pierced deep enough that only the shaft is showing.

I look over at Rob, and he gives me a thumbs up... well he's just a head, torso, and one arm, so theirs not much more he can give me.

A vine gingerly removes the shovel, and the dragon refocuses on its conversation.

Finally, Duchess lets me in.

[That dragon is the guardian of the tree. Its only task is to keep the tree alive and relatively healthy.]

I see.

[For reasons it won't declare, it isn't willing to move from that spot.]

I get it.

[His name is Aldernoth the Fourth, Guardian of the Tree, Emissary of Nature, Protectorate of the Scale, the Eligible Bachelor.]

Yeah... what?

[He wishes for thisss one to leave your service and marry him. He says he can overlook the disgusting nature of thisss one's mixed blood and come together in holy matrimony.]

That fucker.

[He challenges you, thisss one's taming master, at honorable combat. If you fail, he shall take thisss one away by force.]

...

[He said he shall overlook the insolence of having a tamed beast, a revolting undead, disturb his slumber.]

"Do you want to go?"

[Pardon?]

"Do you want to get married to that overgrown lizard?"

[Not particularly, no. Thisss one is satisfied with thisss one's marital status.]

I'm going to murder a dragon.

If that iguana wants to take something of mine, they should meet the gentlemancer in hell. Learn from him what happens when you lust for one of my tamed beasts.

[If he submits, thisss one recommends not committing to the finishing blow. We don't know what master he serves, nor if his egglayer cares for his life.]

I leap off Duchess' back and land on the canopy below. It's formed by massive branches and thickly woven brambles. This dragon sticks out like a sore thumb on this leafless tree.

I walk up to Rob, who has barely finished reassembling himself.

"I'm borrowing this."

I take his [Skeleton Gloves]. It works wonders with Rob's rapid reassembly, but it was originally mine.

[Skeleton Gloves

Black leather gloves with bones anatomically accurate as located on the dorsal surface of the hand.

Armor +5

Vigor +10

Equipment Skill: Bone Shot]

[Bone Shot]

Shoot a bullet-sized projectile that deals Spiritx2 damage.

Cost: Break a finger. 5/5]

It seems that my prosthetic doesn't count toward ammunition.

I look up at the dragon, and the dragon looks down at me. Its arrogance is palpable. Its pride is overflowing. Even if this wasn't a "battle" for Duchess' honor or whatever, this would be a great opportunity to see how far I can transcend "weight class."

I flip it off.

My middle finger cleanly breaks in the middle, conjuring a sole [Bone Shot]. The glove doesn't break the bone for me.

I use [Battered Bones], a martial skill that synergizes with this item since the skill will give a 50% bonus. Including my various titles and decently high spirit stat, I'm looking at a [Bone Shot] that should deal roughly 1k damage.

That's not all.

I sacrifice 8k of my almost 9k heath.

The dragon tries to leisurely swat the [Bone shot] with a vine, but the vine gets obliterated.

It's surprised. I could tell.

It refuses to move from its spot. Maybe it's for the reasons he won't declare. Perhaps it's arrogance.

The [Bone Shot] passes harmlessly through a green barrier. What that barrier was trying to accomplish? I don't know. Perhaps it was a barrier warding against undead attack, something devoid of life.

How wrong he was.

It's carrying 8k hit points of life!

It reaches his scales. I aimed for center mass, and it hit.

-8812

"GARAA!"

It's angry that a mere human hurt it. A mere mortal? Does it know what a human is? Are dragons considered mortal?

It's not dead. Quick math tells me that it has a defense equal to its level.

It seems to hurt as blood hemorrhages from its wound. The bullet cratered on hit, exploding the flesh and scales on impact.

The blood stops as the wound mends. I can't heal it all in one go.

I move from my spot as brambles spike from the ground.

My martial arts dictate I should take the hit to temper my body, but something about the attack doesn't bode well with me.

That attack can instantly drain Rob's 500-ish health pool in one hit. Unless I'm fully healed and willing to be grabbed, I'm not tanking that hit for no reason. Who knows how much more damage it does?

My boots make even this terrain unassuming. The mana drain is slow, but constant.

I shoot another [Bone Shot] while attempting to dodge another bramble-based attack. Unfortunately, I can't charge this one up with as much damage.

Rob is much more agile than I am and still had difficulty dodging these attacks.

He got my leg.

-401

(-0)

My right leg got pierced. Multiple barbed branches ripped through my thigh and calf, holding it in place.

The dragon seemed intrigued by something. Also, why didn't my thorns damage do anything? Also, with my current piercing resistance of 799, it doing that much damage is concerning.

I steel my resolve and rip my leg free.

Unfortunately for my leg, I succeed. 60% of my leg is mangled beyond belief. Loose flesh hangs bloody and torn. My muscles wiggle as they heal back in place.

My lower half is soaked in blood. The brambles beneath me are painted a new shade of crimson.

[Battered Bones] has a nifty passive where, typically, I shouldn't be able to bleed to death, but it feels like I'm a blood-filled water bottle with the bottom cut off.

Regardless, I continue. I step forward with my mangled leg.

I speed up the healing practice with some mana, and my leg heals to a usable condition as soon as I step down.

I shoot more [Bone Shots], trying to pressure it psychologically. Maybe this one, or this one, will deal that ludicrous damage.

I get closer. I'm still nowhere near this dragon. It says something, but it phonetically sounds like laughter.

More brambles. I try counter-attacking with my blade, but my sword gets grabbed along with my arm. The brambles weave up my shoulder.

I can't let this thing engulf me whole. I use Master Wong's patented grapple escape technique and break all the bones in my arm, slithering it out of any hold. My flesh gets shredded against the thorns. The pain is being overpowered by my self-harm.

I get closer. It's 400 feet away.

I shoot. The dragon managed to block it.

Brambles. They rip into me, but they didn't manage to get ahold of me. My body looks like it's been raked with claws.

I get closer. It's 300 feet away. It looks smug.

I shoot. I got a lucky shot, it managed to hit the dragon, dealing damage despite its scales.

Brambles. I managed to dodge this attack.

I get- more brambles. I made an error. I thought I managed to dodge the last set of brambles entirely, but that was a setup for a follow-up attack,

A thorny spike pierces straight up from below me. I'm in a precarious position.