章節 46: Ice Drake
As Liam detected the faint bit of energy, he moved forward, and the snowstorm got worse as he did. 'The energy from the rift must be causing these intense snowstorms,' he thought, barely able to see in front of him as the snowstorm raged on. With the visibility gone down to about a meter, he relied completely on Eldritch Sight to bring him to the energy source.
Continuing forward, he suddenly stumbled, almost falling into a massive hole. Quickly stepping back, he realized he was at the edge of a canyon. "So, the energy is coming from down here," he muttered, sensing a far stronger concentration of energy at the bottom. 'This amount of energy is more intense than anything I've encountered before.'
Sure, the Ancient One and the masters at Kamar-Taj were strong, but they knew how to hide their energy. Compared to their restrained presence, this rift's energy felt about four times stronger than anything he'd ever sensed before.
He summoned Neontote and shifted it into dragon form, pouring energy into the weapon as flames erupted in front of him. This fire lighted up his surroundings for a short while, allowing him to see the size of the canyon. "It's at least 50 meters wide… who knows how long." He noticed that burning the falling snow created a temporary clearing, allowing him to see a few meters ahead.
Looking over the canyon's edge, he detected an energy source splitting off and rapidly moving upward in his Eldritch Sight. "Damn, did it sense me because I used energy?" he cursed himself, 'Mental note: don't use energy close to a tear next time.' He quickly backed away from the ledge and waited.
A roar tore through the snowstorm as he glimpsed a large shadow emerging from the canyon, flying into the sky. 'It's a flying creature?' he thought, tracking it with Eldritch Sight. In his mind, it appeared like a bright light in the snow—its energy visible, but what kind of creature it was couldn't be seen.
The creature flipped in midair and dove straight down towards Liam. Instantly, he shifted Incursio back into its normal form and readied his stance. 'Come on then,' he thought, preparing himself for to cleave it in two. But as it approached, he realized he had misjudged its size.
As it closed in, Liam tensed his muscles, prepared to strike with Neontote. Suddenly, the creature accelerated, and before he could react, he found himself caught in its jaws. 'Damn it!' he thought, teeth closing around him as he was lifted into the air, still gripping Neontote tightly. 'Dragon form,' he commanded mentally, clenching his spear. Flames burst from the weapon, going through the creature's mouth. Startled, it released him.
'Didn't hit it, but at least it dropped me,' he thought, relieved as he fell through the air. The creature had taken him away from the canyon and out of the densest part of the snowstorm. Looking up, he finally got a clear view of it: scaled all over, with a wingspan of about 20 feet, four short legs, and a long tail. From head to tail, it measured around 35 feet.
'A dragon?' he thought. 'No, too small and with four legs. Most dragons don't have that.' It hadn't used magic to attack, which pointed to it being a drake. 'But what's a drake doing in Antarctica?' He had read about them but knew they hadn't appeared for years.
Liam landed on the ground as the drake flew back towards the snowstorm. Focusing his Eldritch Sight, he quickly located it, drew his spear, and charged forward, launching flames toward it. Noticing the attack, the drake flew deeper into the storm. 'The flames aren't traveling as far as they should because of this freezing cold,' he observed, while chasing after it.
'Once I'm close enough, I should be able to burn right through it.' Liam closed the gap, preparing to strike. But then, he sensed another energy signature coming from the drake—this one going towards him a lot faster. He threw himself to the left, narrowly dodging the incoming blast. A blue energy struck the ground where he'd been, instantly forming an ice crystal above it. 'Thank god I dodged that,' he thought. 'It's using ice magic? Maybe it isn't a drake after all.'
The encounter had just become much more dangerous now that magic was in play.
Before he could collect himself, five more blasts were thrown towards him. Liam pointed Neontote forward, releasing a burst of blue flames that obliterated the ice bolts mid-air, then continued toward the drake, who was already retreating higher into the sky.
'I can't let it keep launching attacks from a distance.' The drake hovered, preparing more ice bolts. Liam thought about using his sling ring to create a portal and reach it, but he stopped himself—he wasn't sure if that might destabilize the rift.
The drake fired more ice bolts, each of which Liam dodged or burnt through with his flame blasts. They were locked in a stalemate: neither could get the upper hand. Growing impatient, the drake roared and dove straight for Liam.
Seeing the opportunity, Liam poured more energy into Neontote. 'You won't be able to dodge this lizard.' Liam thought, waiting until the drake closed in. As it neared, he released everything he'd charged. A massive wave of flame erupted, changing from orange to blue and finally to a dark purple color, spreading out over a wide area. The intense heat reduced the drake to ash mid-flight.
Exhausted, Liam dropped to one knee, gasping. 'That last attack had to be over 3000 degrees,' he thought, noticing that the snowstorm had vanished in a 50-meter radius infront of him.
He turned back to the canyon, slowly climbing down using his spear for support. Now at the bottom, he saw the rift's immense energy clear as day now and jumped the last few meters to reach it.
As he approached, he felt a shiver run down his spine. On the other side of the tear, he could see a massive eyelid. It blinked open, revealing a blue iris with a vertical black slit. The sheer size of the eye surpassed anything he'd seen before, and Incursio roared in his mind in response to the presence beyond the tear.
Suddenly, something struck Liam from the left, smashing him against the canyon wall. 'What the hell was that?' he thought, dazed, as he struggled to regain his balance. Looking to his side, he saw another drake, this one standing guard over what appeared to be a nest.
'Shit, the energy from the rift must have been hiding its presence from Eldritch Sights,' he realized, pushing himself free from the wall. He tightened his grip on Neontote as he stared at the new drake.
章節 47: Ice Drake 2
"This drake looks slightly smaller than the other," Liam noted, watching the drake with its blue irises. 'Drakes, huh? They might be offspring of that dragon.' He looked at the options he had and realized he didn't have enough energy left for another blast like the one he had used earlier.
Without giving him much more time to think, the drake shot three ice bolts at him. Liam dodged to the left, circling around the attack. The drake lifted off the ground and flew up in the air, quickly firing more bolts, forcing Liam towards the canyon wall.
Now cornered with the mountain at his back, Liam switched Neontote into dragon form, launching fire blasts at the incoming bolts. 'I need to move to an open area,' he thought, feeling trapped by the canyon wall and the ice attacks.
With a final blast of flames, he created an opening and moved away from the walls, finally gaining 20 meters of space on either side and plenty of room behind him. Frustrated, the drake changed tactics, dispersing its energy around him to start a dense snowstorm.
"Just great," Liam muttered as the snowstorm quickly spread, covering the entire canyon. I' should be able to tell the apart the drakes energy from the tear's once I get further away,' he thought, retreating away from the storm. Seeing him turn to flee, the drake dove down after him.
After running for a few dozen meters, Liam finally noticed the difference in the energy signatures between the drake and the dimensional tear. 'Relying on my eyes is useless in a storm like this,' he thought as he detected the drake rapidly getting closer from behind. He waited until it was close before spinning around and firing another blast.
The drake, unfazed, continued its charge. Liam watched as the lower temperature blast struck its front, only for the drake to fly through the flames unharmed, its chest and wings now covered in sharp, icy layers. He barely had time to react, ducking just as the drake's ice-covered wings flew through the air above him. The drake flew upward, then turned in preparation for another dive.
'I don't have enough energy left for another fire blast,' he thought, his mind racing. Quickly, he summoned an eldritch whip, wrapping it tightly around Neontote's handle. Switching his spear back to normal mode, Liam swung the whip toward the canyon wall just as the drake dove at him again. Neontote embedded itself high up in the rock walls, and Liam pulled hard, launching himself into the air just in time to avoid the drake's dive.
Canceling the whip's spell, he landed squarely on the drake's back. Realizing it had a rider, the drake began to spin in mid-air, trying to shake him off, then started to ascend as quickly as it could.
Liam held on tightly, slowly working his way toward one of its wings.
Summoning another whip, he wrapped it around the drake's neck, gripping it with his left hand while punching at the ice on its right wing. The ice shattered with the first blow. "Come on," he muttered, landing another punch that pierced through the wing. "Yes," he grinned, gripping the torn part of the wing and tearing a larger hole with all his strength.
The drake stopped climbing, realizing it couldn't maintain control. With one last desperate maneuver, it spun and began a nosedive straight down, trying to shake Liam off.
Liam held his whip with all his might and resummoned Neontote. He slashed down, slicing through the wing from top to bottom. With its wing almost completely severed, the drake spun wildly, falling without any control.
Looking down, Liam saw that they were directly above the dimensional tear. 'I can't risk going in there to finish this drake, not with that dragon waiting on the other side.' He quickly jumped from the drake's back, crashing against a canyon wall. Spinning mid-fall, he drove Neontote into the wall, stopping his fall.
He watched from above as the drake continued its fall, disappearing into the rift. "Phew," he breathed in relief. He climbed down slowly as his Incursio faded. 'Just in time, too,' he thought, shivering at what could've happened had it faded away a few seconds earlier.
Liam approached the tear, feeling an intense cold radiate from it. Shivering, he looked through the portal and saw the dragon on the other side had backed away slightly, watching both him and the fallen drake from a distance. Standing in front of the tear, he analyzed its energy signature. 'This isn't one of the dimensions the Ancient One showed me during training. Neither have I seen this in the book,' he noted.
As he studied the energy from the tear and took a moment to catch his breath, he noticed movement from the dragon.
Its massive claws moved towards the portal, and Liam felt an even deeper chill roll down his spine as it began trying to force the tear open further. Any thoughts he had about absorbing energy from the rift quickly vanished as he realized the portal was dangerously close to expanding.
Summoning his remaining energy, he made a series of rapid hand movements, weaving threads of energy to stitch the tear closed. He watched as energy from his dimension fought back against the invading dimensions force, finally sealing the tear completely.
Breathing a sigh of relief, he muttered, "I'll remember that energy signature. When I'm stronger, I swear I'll make that dragon my pet for scaring me like that." He frowned. "Its strange that Incursio reacted so strongly to that dragon but not to the drakes or whatever they were."
Turning to leave, a reflection caught his eye from within the cavern where the drake had been hiding.
Curious, he entered the small cavern. The ground was covered in cracked ice, crystals hung from the ceiling, and the walls were filled with layers of frost. Going in deeper, he found a large pile of snow, which had old scales, claws, and fangs in it. In the center of this pile was a beautiful, pristine crystal ball.
Crouching down, he examined it. "Now, what is this?" he murmured, picking it up. 'It looks… quite normal. What even is this?'
He placed the crystal ball in his bag, then scanned the rest of the cavern. After making sure that there was no other special items in there, he opened a portal with his sling ring and tossed the crystal ball into his room, followed by the scales, claws, and fangs. 'Who knows, might be able to make some armor for someone else from these. The scales especially seemed quite strong.'
Giving the cavern one last look, he decided it was time to leave. He walked through the portal, stepping back into the warmth of his room in the Sanctum. "Finally, warmth," he sighed, feeling the cold go away. His clothes were cold and wet from the snow, so he grabbed a fresh set and changed. Once comfortable, he sat on his bed to organize his thoughts.
'The fight went alright. Made a few stupid mistakes I won't repeat,' he reflected. 'But one weakness is clear: I'm barely equipped to handle flying enemies. Sure, I can jump or use dragon mode, but it's all super exhausting and inefficient. I really should continue practicing the Tendril spell and the Bolts of Balthaak spell.'
He glanced at the crystal ball and the pile of scales. 'And these scales… I should ask the Ancient One to confirm what creature they're from. Plus, I need to report the dragon and that different dimension to her.' He picked up the crystal ball, studying it again. 'As for this… I have no idea what it is.'
Shrugging, he decided, 'The Ancient One probably knows, I'll just go ask.'
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