VIII

  Ultimate Level 2

  “I can pelt the clearing with some weapon constructs. Won’t kick up much of a cloud though.”

  “It’s something,” I whispered. “Can you and Jake take a single prowler?”

  They were both ranged, but Judith was a swordmage, so she may not be useless in a close-up fight.

  She turned to regard the monsters’s levels again. “The one on the left. Maybe.”

  It was the lowest of the three enemies at level four. The second prowler was level five—that one was for Ray and one of the Ashwings, which left me in a two-on-one with the boss.

  My chest expanded with a deep breath. “Ready when you are.”

  Judith turned to her life sensor. Her device pulsed. She raised five fingers and counted down.

  Five.

  Four…

  A sudden breeze made me more aware of the cold. The image of my discarded corpse, half-buried in the snow and half-eaten, flashed through my head…Why was I even doing this? These people didn’t mean anything to me. Would I truly put my life on the line for a shot at entering some Castle that may or may not have my inheritance?

  Three…

  And what if Judith was lying? I glanced at the girl, who swallowed nervously. Mother had warned me against her ilk.

  Two…

  I exhaled. Knuckles tightened on the hilt of my blade.

  One.

  There was never a guarantee a hint of my past would be in this realm. Everything was a risk. But to profit in the future, one had to take chances in the present.

  My robes kicked back as I dashed from behind the tree. All three of the monsters whirled on me—

  A deafening roar crashed outwards from the cave. A boy with bushy brows and puffy cheeks rushed downhill, spear in one hand, his other arm hanging limp.

  ‘That must be Ray.’

  Making the blond boy drawing his bow in the entrance Jake.

  The shout got the attention of the two inferior prowlers, but the storm cutter kept staring daggers at me.

  Blades of light struck the mountain side. Snow and earth launched, breaking the prowler’s line of sight.

  The shrill whistle of an arrow striking flesh, followed by a bestial cry. Red wings shot out of a gate, barrelling into the fog and picking their target.

  I discarded the rest of the battle.

  ‘It’s coming.’

  The surface of the fog cloud exploded. My blade flashed and barely caught the claw before it pierced my skull.

  Unlike with the prowler before, the force behind the strike was too much for me to fling the creature to the side. I skidded backwards over the mountain, felt my back muscles strain but give out, then lost my balance. I somersaulted and landed on all fours, my hand and blade digging through the frozen earth. It’d sent me all the way back towards the treeline and the river.

  ‘Ridiculous strength,’ I groaned. ‘Mother didn’t even hit that hard.’

  Eerily quiet wings caressed the air, again on course for my throat.

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  Ashwing the Second shot out of her portal and barrelled into the beast, slamming it into the ground.

  I burst into motion. The prowler rolled and slipped past Red Fang’s edge. My blade reversed and sliced an ugly gash onto its face, causing it to flinch back with a hiss. Ashwing circled, and I lined up a thrust. No matter its speed, it wouldn’t be able to dodge from this close. Not on the ground.

  A fact the prowler knew, for it didn’t try to. Its upper body ballooned.

  My eyes went wide. I raised my blade to shield myself—

  The roar leaving its throat was no roar but a sonic wave that ruptured forth in a tunnel. It rocked my skull like a sledgehammer would. My eardrums quaked. Warm liquid dripped down my cheeks. I backpedalled onto the frozen river we’d crossed on the way here, putting as much distance between us as I could.

  Multiple wings struck the air. Ashwing screeched. I had to help her, but my vision was whirling. I could still hear the sound writhing in my brain.

  I don’t know how long I wobbled in place, trying to recover any semblance of control. But it was Ashwing’s fainting cry which reeled my mind back in. Vision still reeling, I saw two versions of Ashwing slam into a tree and fall to the ground. The summon didn’t get up.

  The prowler whirled towards me without stopping and the space between us vanished. I was still seeing double, so it was a complete guess which one I had to block.

  Luck saw me parry the first strike, then cut open the prowler’s chest for its trouble. The beast didn’t pause. The second strike blew open my guard like it was swatting a fly. I whirled with the force, worsening my headache, and spun to the side. My blade lashed the prowler’s rear like a whip. That one it did feel.

  The beast staggered, giving me the moment of respite I needed.

  My knees buckled. I sank to the floor but jabbed my blade in the ice to keep myself upright.

  ‘Fuck,’ I heaved.

  My body was failing. Weird, crackling lines danced in my sight. I tried to blink them away to no avail. Only an instant later did I realise they were cracks in the surface of the frozen river.

  I forced my gaze upwards. What greeted me was the sight of the prowler’s organs inflated like a predator trying to make itself seem bigger.

  The decision happened in a split-second.

  Leg muscles screamed to the point of tearing yet I leapt. The attack was different, not a singular beam but a collection of blasts as sharp as razors. I soared over them all the same. Essence shot into my blade. The engravings on the sword flared like metal in a forge, melting the falling snow upon touch. My titanic weight slammed into the ground just as the beast reared up its head to re-aim its attack. Red Fang popped its left eye, and the storm cutter’s head banged against the ice.

  ‘Did I get it—’

  Frost snapped and broke. The beast splashed into the river.

  But so did I.

  Freezing water seized control of my entire world, and the jolt of cold blasted the dizziness from my head. The river was a lot deeper than it was wide. Through rising panic, I kicked downwards, reached for the frozen surface above me that was still in tact, and pulled as if my life depended on it. I gasped for breath the moment my head broke the water and was yanked back down before I could blink clear my eyes. Sharp claws dug into my calves. A stifled scream lost me half of my breath. I whirled around and swiped at the prowler’s face. But I couldn’t generate the necessary force to do any damage. More breath escaped me, building the pressure in my chest. The frozen waters had cleared my head, but now my vision was going dark at the edges. My grip on my blade switched, and I stabbed into the prowler’s shoulder before it could clutch me with its other arm. Though it screamed visibly, blood pooling around us from all of its wounds, the beast didn’t let go.

  Darkness expanded as the monster dragged me down. Its maw opened wide.

  I jerked my blade free and stilled for an instant. Red Fang’s tip glowed redder than lava and the water around it grew cloudy.

  There was no speed behind the strike; didn’t need to be. The tip seared through the prowler’s flesh and pierced the front of its skull. The water vibrated with its cries, and finally, the damned thing let go of my leg.

  I rushed upwards, the prowler’s lifeless corpse hanging onto my blade as if it was a piece of skewered meat. I heaved myself out of the water and onto the solid forest floor. The prowler didn’t want to come on land, but I hauled it after me anyway. No way in hell I was leaving it behind after what it did to me.

  Yet no matter how hard I yelled and heaved, it didn’t budge. I frowned and glanced into the water.

  A black tentacle-like object was wrapped around the prowler’s waist. Travelling further down, my sight landed on a writhing, shadowy mass of sinuous arms and a smooth head.

  [River King - ?]

  Multiple arms crawled towards the corpse. I didn’t allow my mind to register my blood going cold. Half of the prowler’s body was already on land. I dislodged my blade from its skull and jammed it straight through its stomach. With a swift flick of the wrist, I bisected the two halves.

  The lower body shot back into the water. I flung the remainder far away from the stream.

  Roving tentacles paused on the unbroken ice surface, considered, then slunk back into the water, latching onto the discarded body part.

  I waited a single second to make sure it was gone, then collapsed into a heap, pain and cold the sole feelings I had left to me.

  Words passed through my vision without my consent.

  Storm-cutting Prowler - lvl 7 x 1 slain. Extra experience gained for killing a higher level enemy. 49 RP earned.

  Hidden Class Quest [Prove Your Worth I] completed.

  [Prove Your Worth I]: As the keeper upholds the garden, so too, does the garden uphold its keeper. Courage and risk shall be rewarded, for the desolate sorely need them.

  Hidden Objective: Kill an enemy five levels higher than yourself. [1/1].

  Reward: Dragon’s Dogma I

  My head fell back on the ground.

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