Chapter 81: Companion

Chapter 81: Companion

The instant Dallion squeezed the trigger, the guardian shifted to the side. The creature was fast, not the clunky motion that Dallion had expected. The bolt flew wide by half a foot, but that didnt matter. While it would have been nice if the golem had taken another hit, Dallions main goal was to get closer.

Three green shield markers appeared. Instinct made Dallion choose to place his buckler in the one to the back. This time he was lucky. The Guardians fist smashed against the small shield, pushing him to the side.

Follow through, Dallion thought.

Forcing his body to remain standing, he followed the set of green steps to completion. A second series of steps appeared. Apparently, the guardian wasnt planning on a single attack either. Dallion could see lines emerge from the golems body, spreading in all directions like a pincushion. Each of those was a jet of water, and each would take considerable effort to avoid. At this point it would be much safer to take advantage of the time slow and shoot off the golems arm. Dallion, though, continued with the next set of green markers.

Just a little more, he spun and stretched as if following an obscure nineties break-dance. Jets of water flew past him like spears, none of them making contact.

Another time slow occurred, bring with it a new set of green footprints. Two more and Dallion would be able to use his escape attack cheat. It had worked against a level five guardian, certainly it would against a level three. Dallion, however, had already decided not to use it. Not only wasnt it fair but also it wouldnt do more damage in the long term. The village chief had already shown that there were ways to negate it. As Dallions father back on Earth had said: if you can rely on something, dont.

The third set complete, Dallion took advantage of the guard skills bonus to leap closer to the guardian, then he fired two bolts at its arm. This time there was contact.Fôll0w current novÊls on n/o/(v)/3l/b((in).(co/m)

CRITICAL WOUND!

Dealt Damage increased by 200%!

ARM SEVERED

Enemy will no longer be able to make use of its RIGHT ARM

Yes! That took care of the strongest attack the golem had. It was all water jets from here on or maybe not.

Barely had time returned to normal, when the guardian rushed at Dallion. The sudden role reversal caught the boy unprepared. Without its massive ranged attacks, the golem had no choice to engage in close combat.

Dallion could see three instances of his enemy rushing towards him. In each, both watery arms of the golem transformed into blades striking at him. In one instance, they went for his head, in two more they slashed through his torso.

A whole fountain? Beat that, Gloria and Veil.

There was no indication of a skill increase, sadly. Seemed like the level ten cap held even now.

OATH KEEPER

Keeping a promise brings its own reward. Sometimes it might be from your future, sometimes from your past.

That was an unexpected achievement. Dallion had gotten the gist of them, but in the past all achievements had increased some of his stats. In this case the description was vaguer than usual, or rather the promised reward was.

Good thing I came back. To be honest, when Dallion had returned he hadnt expected a reward. A few seconds later he saw that wasnt the only thing he didnt expect.

Mreow? A black puma cub poofed into existence before him. Slightly larger than a cat, it was the same creature he had petted out of existence when he had mended the well. Of all the well cracks, that had been the only creature that hadnt attacked him.

COMPANION CRACKLING CUB

You have gained a Level 1 companion!

While still young, the crackling is loyal and will always follow you both in the real and in any awakened world. The crackling will guard your awakening room, or attack any enemy you command in an awakening realm.

In addition, it can create cracks on objects in the real world. The size of the crack depends on the cracklings level.

You gotta be kidding. Dallion laughed. I just got a kitten?

The creatures appearance was the same as he had remembered it: a black silhouette of a feline with eyes, teeth, and claws. There was no denying that it looked cute, though. Recognizing Dallion as its master, the creature leapt up, landing on his shoulder.

Hey, there. Dallion reacted. While he could feel the cracklins paws, it didnt have any weight, as if a shadow was sitting on him.

Oh, boy. This will take a bit of getting used to