The Pinnacle Warrior

The wyvern fell from the sky, its roar proceeding it, and giving another reminder to the people below that it wasn’t a regular monster. Every one of the wyverns had a roar that could instill fear in the party, so Astrid had taken to, whenever they saw a wyvern approaching, activating Heroic Aura. With that, they could all hold their ground, though the monster’s skill’s influence couldn’t be ignored. It was a fear that settled in their chest, and didn’t leave until the monster was dead. The other party members with higher Self-Mastery (which was everyone), Skandr, Benedict, and Felix, didn’t have much trouble with that, though Muti and Astrid both had to be more aware of the effects.

This other monster, the irregular, was obviously different. The roar had Astrid’s vision immediately narrowing as she immediately started to hyperventilate and an overwhelming fear sank its claws into her chest. Even through Heroic Aura, she struggled until she sent a pulse of mana to her helmet to clear her mind. Looking at the rest of her party, they all were struggling to get over this initial attack as well, and Astrid loosed her sling from around her wrist as she put one of the very few stones with a Steel tier enchantment into its pouch.

“It’s at least level 61,” she said, though she knew the rest knew that as well. From where it initially had been, at least a kilometer up, the wyvern was already less than 200 meters away, and Astrid whipped the stone up towards it. The straps of her sling, the tendons from the dragon turtle, cracked through the air like a whip as the stone flew towards the wyvern. In an almost instinctive way, the monster batted its head forward and smacked aside the stone, which was the size of Astrid‘s fist. Of course, to a monster that large, that didn’t mean much, but it was going so fast that it should have hurt, but the monster didn’t seem to mind too much. Evidently, it’d already used the defensive Skill that the wyverns all had.

What it did care about, instead of the contact with a stone itself, was the effect of the enchantment that burst out on its face. Lightning crackled over its eyes and mouth. It screamed again, though this time it was in pain instead of in challenge, and its eyes focused on her.

For the last split second before contact came, Astrid took in the difference in this monster’s face that Muti had warned the rest about. Instead of a short, snub nosed face, the monster’s mouth was longer, its face having more of a snout that was much like a drake’s. The eyes weren’t so piggy, instead much more intelligent and larger than a regular one’s, and the biggest difference physically between a regular wyvern and this was finally visible: though small, it had two arms that sprouted from its chest. Though they weren’t as strong as a drake’s forelegs, they were several meters long and large enough to hold somebody back while the monster’s mouth savaged them.

Felix relocated to the side and used his two Skills in unison to force the irregular monster’s attention on him. Its head snapped to the side, but it didn’t change its approach as a faint red aura pulsed over its entire body. Then, it didn’t land. Instead, it banked sharply out of the dive and swept in a circle over the party. Its mouth stretched wide over and a burning light started to crawl up its throat. Astrid was reminded of the elemental drakes from the Wandering Trials, of the weak but still dangerous breaths that they attacked her with.

Thick flames, almost more liquid than anything, poured out of the wyvern’s mouth as it made a ring of fire around the party. Her immediate thought was that it wouldn’t be able to hold them in, but as soon as the flames exploded nearby her, she could feel the heat scorching her, even a handful of meters away from it. A full circle of flames trapped them in, with the fire so hot that Astrid was nearly positive that Skandr, Benedict, and Muti would have to jump high over the flames to avoid being seriously burnt. Which would just open them up to an attack from the circling wyvern.

They’d stayed within 25 meters of each other, and suddenly that radius seemed to be just enough for the monster to trap them. Their caution repaid by a trap, though she certainly wouldn’t have wanted to have one of her friends trapped inside the ring without the rest beside them.

“Skandr, what are the chances you’re able to ground this thing?” Astrid demanded.

He didn’t say anything, only shrugging as his lips continued to move in a staccato burst of syllables and his fingers danced through sigils to prepare his spell. Astrid could only hope that it would be enough, as the monster swooped low and its tail shot forward. She pushed fully half of her mana into the shield as she activated Body Surge and interposed herself between the tail and Skandr. With Indomitability and the enchantments on her greaves both holding her in place, she did everything she could to protect the Wizard.

The serrated tail pierced through her shield, five centimeters of it no more than a hand’s span away from punching into her neck. Before she could even sigh in relief, a cloud of venom burst out, choking her as the momentum of the monster’s strike knocked her a step back, even through her Skill and enchantments.

Despite having experienced it before, the scent and taste overwhelmed her, pushing through any resistance she’d set forward and making her gag. Her eyes watered and burned, and her vision swam. Inside of her nose and down her throat became instantly raw, as if she’d been screaming, and then worsened as if there had been a blade shoved down her throat and twisted. She could taste blood over the acrid venom, and her stomach immediately started to heave. The burning sensation in her eyes lasted only for a split second before it became agony, and she was blind. Not for the first time, Astrid felt a spike of panic at the damage she’d taken impeding her ability to see, but she forced it down, brutally as the wyvern continued past her. She could hear its screech as it circled around, and she dismissed her helmet with a thought.

“Benedict!” she screamed, her voice sounding hollow over the damage she sustained to her ears as well. She almost scoffed at how she only recognized that had happened now.

She didn’t need to say anything else, and he was there, pouring water over her head as his hands brushed over her face. The suffering abated somewhat as he pushed plenty of mana into her and commanded, “Physique!”

There simply wasn’t enough time to ask who else might need help as she used a charge. Cool relief flooded her body as she was healed. Despite the pain, she hadn’t sustained too much damage, and Astrid felt her eyes grow larger in her skull as her vision returned and she could breathe again.

“That’s some nasty stuff,” the Bard said. “It’s not quite acid, but it’s more than just venom. Weirdly, it somehow didn’t touch your hair. For now, don’t block it, avoid it.”

“Skandr,” Astrid said, nodding at Benedict in agreement, “you better be close.”

The party couldn’t say anything else as the wyvern reappeared, its tail dangling below it like a headsman‘s axe. This time, Felix didn’t just rely on his Skills to defend, instead setting his stance before lunging forward as he pulled the tail towards him with his shield. Instead of just having the tail of the monster rip his shield to pieces, he used the mana pulling it forward to twist his whole body and wrap himself in the tail. The wyvern lifted him up, willing to separate the man and dispatch him while the rest could do nothing, but Muti and Skandr stepped forward.

There was a burst of darkness beside Astrid, overcoming the harsh light from the roaring blazes that surrounded them, and Muti disappeared. On the wyvern’s head, Astrid could see that, despite being over two meters tall herself, Muti was only the size of the monster’s head. Its neck wasn’t as long as a usual wyvern’s, and she started chopping at its eyes. Fortunately, she had her Steel tier weapon, and with Shadow Strike empowering her along with a freezing mist clouding the wyvern’s vision, hot scarlet blood started to rain down on the party from above.

Though it was only a moment, Muti’s cloud blinding the monster offered a perfect opportunity for Skandr’s lightning hands to reach up and both grab the wyvern’s left wing. Unlike on the other wyverns, these hands weren’t quite large enough to grab the monster’s tail and head at the same time and force it anywhere. Instead, they grabbed the long, thin bones of the dragon’s wing and bent it forward like they were breaking a piece of kindling. The monster’s already distressed roars became more desperate as its wing stood in danger of being snapped, and Astrid, with Body Surge still strengthening her, jumped up to the slowed monster.

She hadn’t re-summoned her helmet yet, and her hair whipped around her face as she reinforced her shield with mana and pushed Power-aligned mana into it as she smashed the edge of the shield into the part of the bone between Skandr’s lightning hands. The bones, which had been creaking in resistance until then, snapped with the sound of a falling tree, and the wyvern lost its ability to fly. It tipped towards the left, trying to flap its wings as Astrid fell to the ground.

Fortunately, she landed outside of the bounds of the fire ring instead of in the middle of the fire, as did the wyvern. It tumbled to the ground, shrieking each time its wing touched something, and Felix pulled himself free from the tail as the monster’s focus waned.

He didn’t hesitate to rush towards the monster’s head as Astrid noted Benedict and Skandr jumping over the flame ring. Skandr’s hands were spread as he then commanded the lightning hands to seize on the monster’s tail. It scrambled from the ground, getting onto its hind legs and supporting most of its weight with its uninjured wing, as its tail thrashed and its arms looked for anyone to grasp. The lightning hands fought to hold it down, but lacked the substance to do so, only slowing the deadly weapon’s movement. Meanwhile, Felix bashed his shield and axe into the monster’s face to keep it distracted.

Muti roared, as she jumped up off of the monster’s head. She tumbled through the air, her tattoos flaring with an unfamiliar color on her hands. Winds exploded behind her, and she fell even faster, the tip of her blade finding a weak point that she’d made herself. The long blade sunk completely into the monster’s flesh, and it reared back, throwing her away. Blood sprayed all around as Muti’s blade was yanked free with her, and Astrid hustled forward.

Felix jumped up and wrapped himself around the head for just a second, pulling its attention before he pushed himself off with both feet and away from it as he activated his attention drawing Skills again. Evidently, something had changed, and the monster looked towards him, though its body language seemed to scream that it wanted to deal with the greater threats. Its mouth and hands grasped for the guardian and he took only enough steps to make sure that he wasn’t in deadly peril. Astrid allowed a fierce smile to cross her face as she saw Felix succeeding in the role he had wanted to seize. The wyvern smashed its head down into him and he grunted as Astrid pressed the attack.

Regardless of that, she was done dealing with this beast, and she pushed as much of her stamina and mana as she could manage into a Spectral Graviton before she used a charge of Physique, getting close enough to Felix to help him out as well before she attacked the monster’s head.

With Power-aligned mana surging through her hammer, she smashed it into the same wound that Muti had made. The gray energy from her hammer seeped into the wound, and the scales went dull as the wyvern swayed where it held its head up. The gravity aspect of her skill then pulled the head down as she was below it, and she swung a vicious upswing into its jaw. Bone crunched, and Astrid grinned widely as the monster succumbed to its wounds. 

Even so, it was still another three hits from Astrid before the last signs of resistance faded, and the kill notification flashed in her eyes.

Flaming Irregular Drako-wyvern slain. 6,100 experience gained, split among party.

“Is everybody okay?“ Astrid asked as she stepped away from the wyvern. Luckily, Benedict and Skandr had never really been in danger, though Muti’s left arm hung awkwardly and Felix favored his right foot.

“I would appreciate healing to fix my arm,” Muti was the first to speak, “but I was never in any true danger. The distance from the venom and Felix keeping its attention kept me from sustaining any other injuries.”

“It was damn strong,” Felix said, “and it smashed its head down on me when my foot was on a rock, not a steady stance. Rolled my ankle pretty good.”

As he said that, though, Astrid looked down and saw that his foot had been twisted nearly ninety degrees outward, so his toes were pointing to the side instead of forward. The fact that that came after she had used a charge of Physique on him wasn’t lost on her, and she could guarantee that his entire leg had been in much worse condition before.

“I’m okay now,” Astrid said as Benedict came forward and started using Song of Victory to heal them all, “but that was worse than I would have expected. That venom spray was bad news.”

“Not so deadly for you,” Benedict chuckled. “With my help, at least.”

The party looked among themselves, and Astrid allowed herself a smile.

“I can guarantee that thing is stronger than what the Boss would have been before this surge or whatever,” she congratulated everybody. “Though we are lucky it decided to try to trap us with the fire instead of just hitting somebody with it.”

“Yeah,” Felix agreed, “it was thinking more of hunting things than of preparing for a fight. Could anyone tell just how much damage those flames would do if you touched them?“

Everybody shook their heads, though Astrid said, “I don’t know if anybody other than Felix or myself would be able to survive for more than a second like that.”

The jovial air that had settled over the party dissipated from the Humans, though Muti didn’t seem to be particularly concerned. When she noticed the others looking at her, she shrugged. “I do not plan on being hit by any attacks. They will hurt me, and I depend on you all to save me in that case.”

Astrid supposed there wasn’t anything else for that, so she nodded slowly. “I’d say we need to talk to Olafson about more equipment before we get back in here, if we’ll be running into these things. Plus we need to tell the Verdant Walkers, and  I wonder if this body’ll be pretty valuable.”

She trailed off at that, and Benedict stepped forward to the massive corpse. Laying on the ground, its head was probably over a meter and a half tall, and twice as long. The stars in this Dungeon branch were huge, as far as these stairways went, large enough to allow a regular wyvern to pass through, though the journey would be tight. For this irregular, though, it’d be nearly impossible for the beast to make the journey without squeezing. The thought of trying to pull the whole thing through was impossible, but it was too big to fit into their spatial pouches as well, so Astrid let her head hang as she thought about it.

“Having it be the next watershed and irregular,” Skandr said, pulling Astrid from her thoughts, “means it gives a good amount of experience, though. The triple experience is nice. Easy to forget, after so long since we fought one.”

Astrid allowed herself to get pulled out of her thoughts with that, and nodded in agreement. The party looked among themselves as they looked at the corpse, and finally Astrid came to a conclusion.

“Let’s cut the tail, head, legs, and wings off,” she suggested, “put those in the pouches, then see if we can drag what’s left up. Then, we’ll talk to the Verdant walkers and make a visit to Olafson?”

Nobody had any complaints with that, so the party set about cutting the most valuable parts of the corpse free, though nobody forgot what Greely had told them before—that for monsters like this, the entire body was valuable, and now that they had things to buy, the effort of collecting the whole thing had better be worth the effort.