Chapter 535 Nina's Fall
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[Name: Arad Orion][Race: Void Dragon][Class: Draconic Mage. Druid]
[Level: 26/40][Exp: 153000/590000][Sub-class: Void Knight. Monsters' Whisperer. Star Druid]
[Age stage: Young] [36 years.] [Evolution available at 64]n)-O-.v--e(.L()b)-I))n
[Stats]
[Available stat points: 1]
[Available skill points: 0]
[Strength: 35] [Agility: 32] [Constitution: 38]
[Magic: 37] [Intelligence: 40] [Wisdom: 38]
[HP: 982/1014][MP: 1001/1001][SP: 936/936]
[HPreg: 1/min][MPreg: 1/s][SPreg: 2/s]
[Blood Pool(BP): 161.8Liters]
*****
As Arad patted Nina's head, Shi's minced corpse wiggled.
"Don't tell me!" Aella gasped, pointing her bow forward, "That thing is still alive."
"Don't worry," Arad said, "It's dead,"
The corpse started disintegrating into gray ash, leaving a red glowing crystal.
"To protect itself, the blood gathers together and crystalizes." Arad said, turning around, "That's an impressive instinct to survive."
ZON! He teleported and landed beside the crystal, "Now that I got you," He smiled, lifting the crystal. The blood didn't even bother invading his body. To it, he was akin to stones.
ZON! He teleported back with the only thing left from Shi's body.
Nina stared at the crystal, "Wait, is this the crystal you talked about? The one Shi touched?" She pointed at the crystal.
"Shape might be a bit different, but it should be the same one. It's the tarrasque's blood," He nodded.
"Are you sure?" She stared at him.
"Of course." Arad replied, "Why ask?"
"I've seen one before when I was a little girl playing in the forest," Nina looked at him, "When I was five or six, I was hunting in the forest and had to take shelter in a cave from the rain,"
"What? You found one before?" Everyone stared at her, terrified.
"I played with it a bit, but it turned into ash in a matter of minutes," Nina replied, "This might not be what turned her into a monster. Otherwise, I should have already turned into one," As she said those words, the blood in the crystal flew at her, sinking into her body in the blink of an eye.
Arad blinked twice, staring at the crystal in his hand as it turned into ash.
Nina's skin flashed red, and her veins bulged.
Just as quickly, she turned back to normal. "What happened?" Nina stared at her hands, "I feel better,"
"I don't care!" Arad screamed, "The tarrasque's blood got into your body!" He growled.
Nina stared at her hands, "I don't feel anything,"
"No matter what, don't rage again. Shi's rage triggered the transformation," Arad grabbed her shoulder, "I'm sure Merlin could find something to help. For now, we need to get back to Alina as fast as possible,"
"As I said," Nina stared at him, "I'm fine..." CLOP! She sank into the ground.
Everyone stared in silence for a second, "NINA!" Her father shouted, and Arad transformed into his draconic form, blasting through the ground as he rushed after her.
SWOSH! Zephyr flew away, carrying everyone in her wind, and Eris growled. "That idiot, she didn't transform,"
"No, but she can't control it," Zephyr stared at them, "That was earth glide, a magic that allows the tarrasque to phase through the ground like a ghost."
The first one after Zephyr to understand what was happening was Lydia, and she grunted, "If he doesn't catch her, she'll sink to the core of the world and meet the real tarrasque."
[Earth Glide] This natural magic allows creatures like earth dragons and the tarrasque to move through anything earth-related like ghosts. But they can still be stopped with living matter, which means Arad's claws should be able to catch Nina.
Arad rushed through the ground, digging as fast as he could. "Damn it! Damn it! I didn't work on my burrowing skills," He growled. As fast as he could dig, he couldn't match the speed of a falling human.
For the first layers, the soil and stones were soft enough, but the deeper he got, the harder they got due to pressure, and his claws started finding it harder to dig. His large body also held him down, making it even harder to chase after Nina.
Arad's mind raced. This was bad, even worse than anything he planned for.
^I can't teleport without knowing if there is an opening to land, and I can't blast the ground with void expansion without causing the whole area to collapse.^ Arad looked to the side, sensing some monsters walking around.
He shifted his direction, digging to the side in the hope of finding a ravine or a cavern so he could rush down faster. CRACK! To his luck, he was right.
Upon seeing a dragon burst through the wall, one of the monsters shat himself as he ran away in terror. But Arad didn't have time to care about anything. He started running straight down on the walls.
Arad can't expand his wings as the place is tight. He can't even teleport without risking one of his limbs appearing in the stones, slowing himself down.
CRACKLE! From the stones, a massive worm emerged, drawn to the noise. She opened her mouth, but immediately sensed Arad's aura and regretted her decision.
She tried to move out of his way, but it was too late. Arad ripped right through her body with one swipe of his claws, killing her in one hit without even slowing down.
^Can I cast magic on her? Gravity would help. No, I don't have her marked with my magic. And I can't extend my void without destroying the place.^ Arad growled, reaching the bottom of the ravine and digging further down. He could feel Nina getting further and further down away from him.
*****
Nina gasped, flailing her arms around trying to grab onto the dirt and stones, but her hands failed to catch anything. To her, it felt like free falling through the sky.
^What's happening?^ She tried to think, but her 7 bits of intelligence weren't that helpful in a pinch. The most she could do was understand that she was falling through the ground and that this was something related to the tarrasque.
"RAGE!" Nina blinked. A naked muscular woman with war paints covering her body stood at her side, eyes closed.
Nina paid little heed to the illusion at her side. Mind babbles that the barbarians gave little care about.
"Child! RAGE!" The woman repeated.
Nina kept on ignoring her, trying to catch onto the ground.
lightsnοvεl "I warned that woman, but she didn't listen." The woman said, "But you're different. You must RAGE!"
[Intelligence: 7]=>[Intelligence: 1]
Nina's skin turned red, and her veins bulged, pulsing like a heart.