Chapter 13: Turbulence

Chapter 13: Turbulence

Over the weeks the weather rapidly changed. The snow storms were chased away by rolling troughs of humid air from the south. These in turn were followed by boiling thunderstorms looming large over the western mountains, lightning crackling sideways and rain falling in the same direction.

After each storm bioluminescent lights rose from the ground and danced in swirling patterns of radiance through the sky.

Through it all the cracked surface of Season rotated out of sight little by little each night. Before, Leif had only vaguely felt the changes as they swept across the earth. But to see, hear, smell and even taste the world was a surreally extraordinary experience.

Other than observing nature, what did Leif do? Well, he had eyes now so... May as well see what he can see.

===

The mountains pierced the sky from horizon to horizon. Great stone spearheads proclaiming themselves impassable. Leif didn’t want to pass them however, he just wanted to climb to the top.

As he ventured closer and closer, days stretched into weeks and he became more and more familiar with his new body and upgraded skills. A pleasant surprise was the return of a flock of forest creatures.

They seemed to gravitate towards him, birds eager to stray far from their secure nests. Rodents playing between his feet as he walked.

But best of all? The return of two dopy deer.

Now that he was more aware of his surroundings Leif began experimenting with his [Noble] skills. First, he began to experiment with his [Aura of Nobility]. The aura was something he had been radiating out non stop for as long as he could remember. But what else could he do with it?

The first answer was the most obvious, retract it. This led to the horrifying discovery that having your aura on full blast at all times was a not insignificant drain on his energy. Pulling his aura back was like closing a leaky valve. It was idiotic, just how much energy had he wasted over the years?

Of course the aura skill was also the reason so many forest animals decided where he was heading was the place to be. If he retracted it the critters would slowly drift away, but not as much as he would expect. Thê source of this content n/o/v/(el)bi((n))

Was something else making them stick around?

Having so many animals around led to the next discovery. [Court Empath] had an entire part of the skill he hadn’t noticed before. It helped him read body language. This was more than a little odd because nowhere in the skill description did it mention that.

His musings on skill descriptions was interrupted by a roar. This wasn’t the first of its kind he had heard as he ventured towards the mountains but it was by far the closest. Forest animals were sent scampering for cover, even the two deer seemed temporarily nonplussed.

From a nearby outcropping stalked a scaled creature the size of a horse.

Two curved red horns framed its eyes like helmet decorations with similarly coloured spines running down its back. The creature bounded to the edge of the outcropping like a dog, long tail lashing against the rocky ground it stood on.

It kept low to the ground, a deep chuffing sound escaping from its fang filled mouth. Its intent was obvious, but [Court Empath] confirmed it. Hostile. Its wild presence, an aura of savagery billowed up and away from the creature as though it were uncontrolled.

It doesn’t have an aura skill. Leif realised. He tried to recall any times he had felt a creature, monster or otherwise be capable of controlling its aura like he could. The griffon could, from before I evolved. He noted, not that the information would do him much good now.

With a frantic jerking motion it ripped itself away from his grasp. The drake backed away, snarling and limping. Leif rose to a crouch, body trembling from the strain of using so many skills while also being restored from the drake's stolen vitality. He rose slowly, focusing on his opponent, if he could get just one more good hit...

Then the second drake arrived. Substantially smaller than the first and with differently shaped horns, it rushed him from his blind spot. The only reason Leif survived was [Court Empath] screaming a warning due to its hostile intent. A fitful barrier flashed into place but the newcomers' jaws crushed through it and deep into Leif’s shoulder.

He let out a half scream half wordless hiss as golden blood began to seep from his wounds. The first drake seemed more than willing to let the second smaller one have a turn. Lifeforce flooded through Leif’s body from [The Well Within], the skill finally deciding he was in critical enough condition to activate its reserve of vitality.

The smaller drake tried to shake him like he was a dog toy, not realising just how heavy the small spriggan was. In the second of surprise he had been bought, Leif elbowed it in the top of its skull. The drake crashed to the ground where it unleashed a torrent of flames while dazed from the blow.

Leif dived out of the inferno’s path, scrambling to his feet, glanced over his shoulder at the first drake, leaped onto the second and drove a sharp gold branch conjured from his knuckles into the top of its skull.

The drake died instantly, flames guttering out just before two deer-shaped observers could be turned into charred memories. He ripped the golden stake out and, in a moment of sheer exhausted panic, willed the conjured limb to detach from his hand. When it did, he blinked in astonishment, then he threw it like an improvised projectile at the larger drake. The attack missed due to his lack of experience but the drake still reacted.

The creature flinched back, and growled as it circled him. Leif plunged his fist into the bleeding wound atop the dead drake's head and began syphoning its blood. Crimson streams ran up Leif’s forearm before being absorbed into his body.

He felt the pool of energy from [The Well Within] slowly refill as his wounds sealed shut, charred bark falling away to be slowly replaced. Through the healing process the remaining drake growled and stalked around him, Leif shifting to maintain eye contact atop the carcass.

It didn’t spew flames, in fact the monster seemed to be gasping for breath. Did my kick puncture a lung? He questioned, standing up from the deflated corpse.

The drake growled and took a step back, clearly uneager to continue the fight. Leif sighed, everything hurt and his soul ached from the overuse of so many skills in such a short duration. But he couldn’t leave an enemy to come back for revenge.

It feebly attempted to make a final attempt for his life but whatever internal injuries it was suffering from rendered the drake all but incapacitated.

He grabbed it by the throat and put a golden stake through its skull. The fight having ended, Leif sagged to his knees. The two deer trotted over and started eating a patch of partially scorched wild grass.

Level up! Class [Amber Blight Spriggan] is now level 11!

For slaying the descendants of dragons in disadvantageous combat you have gained a level!

+1 to [Might] +1 to [Intelligence] +1 to [Willpower] +1 to [Charisma] +5 free points!

For constantly fighting unarmed and unarmoured. Using nothing but your body to defeat competent foes and beating a drake to death with your bare hands, you have the opportunity to gain the [Brawler] class!

Class slots: 0/2

Accept? Y/N