Chapter 183: A Two and a Five

Chapter 183: A Two and a Five

What the heck is this?! Veil yelled as the azure firebird flew near him.

Its my familiar! Dallion yelled back. Dont hurt it!

The last sentence was said moments too late to keep Veil from slashing through the creature. Fortunately, the blade passed through the flame, causing no harm whatsoever. Unphased, Lux perched on Veils head. The healing started immediately restoring the blonds health in the familiar five percent increments.

A crossbow would really be useful about now, Dallion thought, while hacking through tendrils. In moments like these, he appreciated the raw destructive power the weapon provided. If Gloria had that, a few shots would be enough to half the gremlin in size. Instead, they had to fight it the old-fashioned way, and that proved challenging even for the three of them combined.

MINOR WOUND

Your Health has been decreased by 5%

A tendril sneaked past the edge of the shield, piercing Dallion in the right shoulder. It took a single slash to cut it off before it could do further damage, but it was evident that the cracklings were learning.

The trios efforts had managed to reduce the overall size of their enemy by a third, yet they had started suffering damage as well. To make matters more challenging, music attacks didnt have the same effect they did to the initial crowd of gremlins. Apparently, size was a factorthe emotions vibrating within the monster were too strong, negating anything Dallion attempted. One way to change that was to stick his harpsisword in it and perform a music attack then, but he wasnt going to; not after what had happened the last time.

Slow and steady, Dallion told himself.

This thing is wild! Veil grinned, pushing forward like a walking meat grinder.

Dont be reckless! Dallion shouted, immediately becoming aware of the irony. That isnt an excuse to stop defending!

Then again, a berserker with a constant life-gain was a vicious combination. In his mind, Dallion started going through possibilities. As things stood, the battle was likely to last at least another ten intense minutes, which was a lot considering the amount of effort exerted on everyones part. Gathering all cracks in one place was a good approach when it came to saving time, so now that they were here, the best way to continue was to split them up again. Dallion couldnt manage that on his own at his level, but there was no reason for him to go at it alone. This was a team job and in a team job all it took was for one person to remain standing at the end for the entire team to win.

Gloria! Dallion shouted, pulling further back. Ill need you in close combat. Well do a combo.

Alright. There was a note of hesitation in her voice, though not as much as the trust in him.

Veil, same thing.

Im already fighting up close. Veil hacked at the gremlins leg, pretty much ignoring the tendrils piercing him. At this rate even Lux wasnt enough to fully restore his health.

Combo attack! Dallion shouted, annoyed. We go for the waist and split it in two. Wait for my signal!

On its face the plan sounded absurd, and that is precisely why Dallion thought it would work. All he had to do was calculate the time it would take Gloria to reach the gremlin so he could coordinate the attack. Thanks to his improved mind, the calculations were easy and quite visual, allowing him to visualize the entire thing.

Nox, Ill need your help on this, Dallion thought. When I tell you go for the gremlins face. Dont worry about Lux.

Mrrow, the crackling said in return. If there was a way for a cat to make an evil grin while meowing, Nox had found it. Dallion definitely felt relieved, knowing the crackling was on his side.

Time to be a lure again, Dallion thought, and played a single chord on the harpsisword.

Now! Dallion shouted. Shield, contract!

Simultaneously, all three members of the group started their way to the gremlins waist. Dallion was no exception charging forward. Seeing that he was no longer protected by the shield, clusters of tendrils darted his way. This was precisely what Dallion was hoping formore attention on him meant less on Gloria and Veil. Also, he had one trick up his sleeve, they didnt.

Splitting, he thought.

Hurry up, Veil grumbled. This is uncomfortable.

Here goes. Dallion took out Noxs dagger and dealt the finishing blow.

Realm fully mended!

The STONE GARDEN is now flawless!

A sense of achievement filled Dallion. There was something about achieving a hundred percent that made his heart sing.

AREA MENDER

+2 MIND

Mending a major area is never a small feat. Remember to always be prepared. Some areas are more dangerous than others.

SPEEDMEND

+5 REACTION

It takes a certain type of recklessness to erase this many cracks in less than an hour. Nice join, just be careful not to make it your last.

Two achievements, including a fiver? This was definitely a welcome surprise. It was almost funny how Reaction always seemed to get bumped up, regardless of Dallions intentions. Personally, he would have preferred mind, perception, or the unknown stat, be he had no intention of complaining.

Two of them? And a five? Veil grumbled, annoyed. Some people get all the luck!

Its not like they would have been useful for you, idiot! Gloria hissed.

That was all well and fine, but the way Dallion saw it, there were three achievements, not two. A third rectangle was also there, only this time its color was black with a single line of text.

NOX IS LEVEL 2

Nil, any idea how that happened? Dallion asked.

That is far from my area of expertise, the echo replied. Familiars increase in level along with their awakened. It varies from person to person, but usually for every ten levels an awakened levels up the familiar levels up by one. Since you made him a guardian as well, I guess there are other means as well.

Thanks.

That wasnt much of an explanation, but what Dallion was more annoyed with was not knowing what a level two crackling was supposed to mean. Had Nox just become more powerful, or had he learned new abilities as well?

How did you get that firebird? Veil asked. Any chance you can lend him to me for a while?

Familiars dont work that way, Dallion smiled. And to be honest, Im not sure. I guess I offered him to surrender, and he did.

Surrender, eh? Veil made a serious face as if this was a groundbreaking concept. For him, maybe it was. Maybe I should try that.

You never know. Dallion laughed. How about we get out of here? Lets have something to eat. My treat. Then he glanced cautiously at Gloria Then, we can continue exploring the city.

At the end of the day, sacrifices had to be made.