Path of Dragons

Irritation bordering on anger coursed through every facet of Elijah’s mind as he threw himself at the huge turtle. Its jagged-beaked head snapped out, its jaws clamping down on his hastily-raised arm. He’d used Iron Scales, but even then, he felt his bones creak under the enormous biting force the monster could bring to bear. Still, he only grunted, shunting the pain into its own facet of his Quartz Mind as he wrapped his other arm around its neck in a headlock. Then, he squeezed.

“Now!” he roared, his voice coming out with a multitude of bubbles, and the other members of his party rushed in to do their part. Kurik slammed the notched blade of his axe into the turtle’s enormous head, while Nia used a spell to send spears of stone into its underbelly. Most were deflected by its hard shell, but some managed to breach the creature’s defenses. Finally, Ssethik leaped upon one of its legs, ramming both of his daggers through its pebbling skin.

Meanwhile, Robolo was busy keeping two other monsters occupied – one was an eight-foot-long barracuda, while the other was a sea snake that failed to fit into any category Elijah knew. Even as the two monsters drifted lazily in the current, the Confounder who’d rendered them insensate struggled with the burden on his ethera. It wouldn’t be long before his core was completely spent, which meant that Elijah needed to end the fight.

But he needed the others to get a few more good hits in because, as he’d learned since entering the tower, the system distributed experience based on the efforts of everyone involved. In some cases, that meant the primary damage dealer got the lion’s share, but there were plenty of exceptions – like healing, controlling enemies, and shielding allies – that the only thing clear about how experience was allocated was that it was a complex thing that only a Scholar could fully understand.

So, rather than try fruitlessly to manipulate it, Elijah and his companions had adopted a simple strategy – everyone needed to contribute as much as possible, while Elijah kept them as safe as he could. In this instance, that meant holding the turtle in place so the others could pile on as much damage as possible. However, they were so far beneath him – with the exception of Kurik, whose skills were unsuited to direct confrontation – that even that wouldn’t be enough to kill this particular enemy. Still, he waited until they’d gotten a few more attacks in before squeezing the turtle’s neck so hard that bones cracked. A moment later, its struggling ceased, save for a few twitches from its jaw. A blow from Kurik’s axe finished it off, and Elijah let it fall to the seafloor, where it settled into the silt.

Meanwhile, he threw himself at the sea serpent, which he judged was the most dangerous of the remaining two enemies. The second he touched it, Robolo’s spell broke, and the monster tried to slither away. Elijah caught it by the tail, and because it was unable to escape, the sea snake whipped around, baring a set of six-inch fangs. Elijah punched it in the back of the throat, then used Iron Scales as it clamped down.

The creature didn’t have the biting power to even nick his scales, so long as he kept the ability going. By that point, the others knew the drill, and they shifted their attention to the serpent.

That’s when things went wrong, though. In his squeaky gnome voice, Robolo shouted, “It’s breaking loose!”

At that moment, the spell holding the barracuda in place shattered, sending a small pulse of ethera across the seafloor. Even as Elijah wrestled with the serpent, the overgrown fish sighted in on Robolo and tore through the water to attack what it saw as its tormentor.

Fortunately, they were prepared for that, and when the fish darted toward the gnome, an earthen cage sprang up around the Confounder. The fish hit it going full speed, sending a cascade of stones to drift toward the seafloor as a cloud of silt billowed, obscuring everything.

But the cage held, stymying the barracuda just long enough for Robolo to recast his spell. It went still again as the cage fell to pieces, and via One with Nature, Elijah saw Nia sag in exhaustion. Normally, summoning that cage wasn’t that taxing for the little goblin Lithomancer. However, it was exacerbated by two factors. First, she was used to only using it on herself, and pushing it onto Robolo increased the ethera cost by a significant margin. Second, her Regeneration was absolutely horrible, which meant that since the very beginning, she’d never actually regained much ethera. Aura of Renewal helped, but it wasn’t enough to keep her going indefinitely.

Yet, Elijah couldn’t spare the attention for that kind of thing. Instead, he was too busy monitoring the totality of their circumstances. One slip in concentration, and one of the weaker members of his party could die. Elijah wouldn’t allow that.

Soon enough, the sea serpent died just like the turtle, and Elijah turned his attention to the lone remaining combatant. He fell on the barracuda, grabbing hold of its fins and ripping them free. After that, the fight went predictably. Even if the fish managed to break away from Elijah’s grip – which it did a couple of times – it couldn’t control itself without those pectoral fins.

In the end, the monstrous fish went down when Ssethik gutted it from underneath, sending its intestines spilling across the ocean floor as blood clouded the surrounding water.

When it went down, Elijah shifted into his human form, then cast Healing Rain. With the Crook of the Serpent Healer, the spell was almost three times as powerful as it had been when he was using the Staff of Natural Harmony. Sure, his old staff was a better all-around weapon, but for healing, his new weapon was far superior.

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“Is anyone badly hurt?” he asked.

They all shook their heads. For once, he’d managed to shield them from any major damage. As a defender, he was growing more competent with each fight. Certainly, he lacked some of the abilities a more specialized Fighter might’ve possessed – he’d learned a little about normal group composition from Kurik – but he was a passable substitute. Some of that was due to the fact that he was a higher level than the others, and that gap was further widened by his more advanced degree of cultivation.

Still, it was a good learning experience.

However, one thing was certain – the others would have died a dozen times over without his presence. Yet, that wasn’t as terrible as it sounded. Because he was the highest level of the group, the tower’s level was determined by Elijah’s. As such, most of the monsters they’d fought were meant to be a challenge for someone of his advancement, and the others could barely even hurt them.

The benefits were impressive, though.

“Got ‘nother level,” Kurik said in the aftermath. “That’s seven since we came to this cursed sea. I ain’t leveled like this since…well, ever. Not even when I was a little one.”

“It is nice,” agreed Nia.

“It’s okay,” Ssethik stated, trying to sound unimpressed.

Robolo remained silent, which suggested to Elijah that the gnome was busy reading a notification.

After that, the group spent a few minutes recovering, but the potion situation put them on a timer. If they didn’t finish the Sea of Sorrows in a total of five days, people would start to suffocate. So, considering that over half that allotted time had already passed, they didn’t have leave to linger. With that in mind, the moment everyone had recovered – both in terms of ethera as well as their injuries – Elijah led them deeper into the Sea of Sorrows.

Along the way, he pointed out any dangers he’d discovered during his first run through the tower. The group proved to be attentive students, though that probably had a lot to do with the fact that nearly everything Elijah showed them was potentially deadly. Like the rock turtle they’d just killed. Or the sea spiders who spun their gossamer webs across potential paths. Or any number of other predators.

Slowly, they made their way across the seafloor. Their progress was much quicker than Elijah’s initial run through the level, largely because he was much better suited to meet the challenges that presented themselves. Back then, he’d been forced into only using his human shape, and as such, the bulk of his power remained hidden for the majority of the level.

With only a day to spare, they found the level’s guardian.

The monstrous orca was much as Elijah remembered it, which meant that it looked like a mutated version of a killer whale. The black-and-white pattern was the same, but it was both much larger, and its features looked far more aggressive. When he looked upon it, he still felt a sense of frustration and anger, but he supposed that was natural. Getting eaten and digested was bound to elicit some degree of enmity.

This time, he wanted to ensure a better outcome, so he consulted with his group before retreating about a quarter of a mile from where they saw the orca. There, they proceeded to set a trap.

Nia used her earth manipulation powers to hollow out a cave, while Kurik and Elijah set traps. The plan was almost identical to the one Elijah had used to kill the giant isopod during his first run through the tower. He intended to bait the orca into the trap, then escape the other side. This time, however, he had plenty of help meant to ensure it was a much safer proposition.

So, with that in mind, the group worked – against the clock as much as the environment – until, at last, Elijah set out to pull the orca into position. And for once, it went off without a hitch. The creature was fast, but in his lamellar ape form, Elijah could propel himself to incredible speeds – at least so long as he didn’t have to turn. Soon enough, he reached the prepared spot, then dove into the cave, where he shifted into his human form and turned to face the orca.

Just as the giant whale entered, Elijah used Snaring Roots. Wiggling tendrils that looked like sea anemone appendages snaked up from the interior of the cave, wrapping themselves around the orca. Then, as Elijah dove through the exit, both Robolo and Ssethik brought their attack skills to bear.

The gnomish Confounder sent small bolts of purple light at the orca. The primary purpose of that spell was to stun enemies, but they sizzled upon impact, doing a slight amount of damage. Meanwhile, Ssethik tossed a series of spectral throwing daggers at the monster. They didn’t do much damage, but they were better than nothing. And besides, the Rogue wasn’t about to get close to such a foe. Not without a defender to keep its attention.

Even as they completed their first volley from their position at the tunnel’s entrance, Elijah shouted, “Bring it down!”

Nia did just that, leveraging what little ethera she had to collapse the roof as well as the entrance. Stone fell upon the thrashing orca, but due to the nature of the cave, it counted as a trap.

And that meant that Kurik could enhance it with his ability.

Ethera swirled as the creature was infected with neurotoxin, and high-pitched cries of pain filled the water. Yet, it did not die.

Not immediately, at least.

Elijah added Swarm to the mix, knowing that he couldn’t afford to hold back. The rocks were heavy, and the orca was wounded, but it was strong enough to tear free unless they continued to pile on the damage.

So that’s what they did.

It didn’t feel as much like a fight as it did an extermination, but after almost an hour of pouring every ounce of ethera they could into doing as much damage as possible to the orca, it finally succumbed.

And though they wanted to celebrate, the group was far too exhausted for that. So, they simply gathered together to rest, then when everyone had recovered enough to move on, they did just that.

Eventually, they reached the end of the second level, which presented as a massive hole in the ground. By that point, the others were down to their last potion, so they couldn’t afford to take any longer before diving in. Still, he couldn’t help but feel a sense of accomplishment. The first time through, it had taken him weeks to traverse the Sea of Sorrows. This time, though, he’d managed it in less than five days.

Sure, he’d had help. But as much as he enjoyed having other people with him, their presence had slowed him down more than anything. Even so, it was a nice accomplishment, and he’d already met his goals of providing Ironshore with an opportunity to increase its people’s power. Hopefully, they’d gain a couple of good rewards along the way.

With that in mind, he followed the others into the massive sinkhole and toward the tower’s final level.

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