Leo continued his exploration through this new and fantastical city. He had to admit, this part was much nicer to walk through.

The path was treacherous of course, but vibrant and decorated too. That was, until he discovered creatures feasting upon what looked to be rotten sacks.

Those creatures, unsurprisingly, were ants.

Three antlings of the unarmoured variant, and one armoured. It was very similar to the last group the pair had encountered. He’d say the only difference he noticed were the levels of them. The lowest was level 30 and the highest—the armoured—was level 33.

Leo almost licked his lips when he saw the armoured antling. He wanted to knock that thing into next week and he knew just the skill to do it. Only this time, he decided to go a bit harder.

Leo whispered to his companion, “Let’s practice some more using our Equip, okay?”

He was a bit worried that she would protest, upset at not being allowed to chomp on all the ants, but instead she looked delighted. It wasn’t clear what she was experiencing during their Equip, but it seemed she got to see what was happening based on the fight with the Golem. Or at least felt it in some way.

With Ellie in his soul-space and a full resource pool, Leo got the jump on the enemy with devastating effect.

Draconic gauntlets manifested over his forearms, spreading over his gloves like a second skin. An immense feeling of power came to him as they formed, along with a feeling of excitement—not just his own. They truly were linked.

An explosion of flame crashed out over the four enemies with incredible effect, instantly killing one of them as the rest were coated in surging heat. Wasting not a moment, Leo swung his other fist, now coated in blue lightning into another.

The antling closest to him that was still recovering from the initial blast had a hole punched through it with nerve chattering electricity threading its veins. It didn’t survive.

With two remaining and a minute or so of Resonance to burn through, Leo unleashed a flurry of punches upon the non-armoured foe. Each hit was like a drum being struck, every hit gathering stacks for his Iron Repetition. Leo truly wished he could transfer the stacks between enemies, he just wasn’t sure how to do it.

The stagger had worn off, the flames nothing more than lingering burns, and the enemy mostly decimated. One now remained, and it looked pissed. He promised that he hadn’t left this one for last on purpose.

It definitely wasn’t due to being petty, or some kind of revenge… okay, maybe a little.

He slowly walked upon the remaining insect as he let Fuel the Fire eat up his stamina, each step, he pumped more into it. A meditation session would likely be needed after this with how wasteful he was being, but he didn’t care.

This thing was getting one shot.

Fire.

A stance of flames was adopted, the temperature of his surroundings increasing from both the steam of his stamina and the fire from his Essence. Using skills of the Fire Essence made things easier to control and put less of a strain on his resources while in Fire Stance. There was still a strain of course, and definitely not something he could keep going for long, but for now it would do.

A few steps later and he felt it. A faint sense of mana, its reflective shell activating.

Not this time you little shit.

Leo Spark Dashed instantly into range and used his new skill, thrusting his fist forward in a corkscrew motion, the rotation tight and controlled but incredibly powerful. Air resistance was completely negligible as it seemed to penetrate everything in its path. Leo’s fist connected with the shell and for a split second he was worried it would bounce off.

It didn’t.

It was like a metallic drill, sparking with flames, was sent spiraling into the heavily armoured carapace and right through it without a care in the world.

Following through on the blow caused some major internal injuries to the antling as it screeched out in agony. A spark of danger followed as it clamped its mandibles down towards his leg. Surprise was evident as Leo was fully expecting a one-hit-kill.

Leo moved to dodge, but with his fist firmly embedded in the antling, the sudden movement caused him to lose his footing and the mandibles crunched down on his leg.

Leo groaned in pain as he felt his Stoneskin try to hold off the antling’s crushing embrace. His other fist came down upon the antling in an attempt to get it to let go, and just as it did, he realised his grave error.

The skill was still active.

“Oh for fu-”

His body was flung back, his leg being ripped from the clutches of the enemy. Ripped being the proper term here as it was like pulling an arm through a sleeve of broken glass.

As he spun through the air, Leo summoned his Cloak of Wind and tried to use his Tailwind to control his speed and impact. His right leg was useless, but his left was enough for him to push against a wall. The wall cracked under the pressure, strain in his leg evident, but holding strong. Like an uncoiled spring, he rocketed towards the heavily injured antling and summoned a Frost Lance.

The lance was fired directly into the hole he’d made, going deep enough to bury it to half its length.

Landing on one leg wasn’t easy so he just kind of tumbled along the ground. The creature was writhing in pain trying to remove the lance but was unable to.

“You piece of shit. Shatter.”

The lance exploded, completely shredding the internals of the antling, green ichor flying. The notification appeared shortly after.

You have slain: Antling - Level 33

Experience increased for slaying an enemy above your level

+66 Store Credits.

It wasn’t the last of his notifications either.

Ellie has reached level 25

Stat points distributed

+3 Free points

Ellie has gained:

+5 Free Points from her race

Ellie’s level 25 skill selection available

So far, Ellie had gained her main skills at level 5 and 15 with her claws, teeth and breath respectively. This was the first time there was a choice. Leo wondered if he could see what she could choose from or if she would just instinctually learn something as beasts would perhaps do.

~

Ellie didn’t want to read the system text, so the system offered her it in a way she would appreciate. It fed her the information about the skills, giving her an instinctual understanding about how it would change her body like watching a dream. There were three of them.

One was giving her movement, something to do with her wings and letting her use them better. Ellie liked the idea of that already. She wanted to keep up with Leo when he went jumping. Although jumping while on his back was also fun.

The second was a modification to her throat and body, giving her a roar of power that would scare her enemies. Ellie wondered how effective it would be against the bugs—against any bad people. It felt good, but not as fun as flying sounded.

The third, and last option, made her body strong like steel but soft when needed. Ellie didn’t really understand how something could be solid but also not. Her scales right now protected a little but the bugs could still bite her and make her bleed. That made Ellie angry. No one chomped Ellie.

Ellie was the Master Chomper.

~

Leo watched Ellie pace back and forward, her little legs kicking up dust whenever a thought struck her. Her face screwed up into little angry pouts and scowls. A few biting motions of her chomping at the air as Leo just smiled. It was adorable.

After a few minutes, it became clear she’d made her choice. Ellie gave a short, self affirming nod, shut her eyes and stilled.

Light began to pulse along her back. Soft at first, like the heartbeat of something waking inside her. Then it brightened, gold bleeding through the thin lines of her scales. Her wings trembled once before spreading wide, every joint shivering under the pressure building in her body.

A low hum filled the air. The membranes stretched and thickened, gold spilling across them in waves. Bone shifted, scales realigned, and the air rippled with heat as the glow deepened. Leo found himself holding his breath, the sight of it awe inspiring.

The light flared, then fell away in drifting motes.

Her wings unfurled, fairly longer now—about twenty percent or so. They looked heavier, more defined, each movement a bit more controlled.

If her old wings had belonged to a hatchling, these were her next step—what Leo might’ve called her primary-school wings.

She was still small, no larger than a big dog, but those wings looked regal, alive with potential. For the first time, he could almost believe she’d take to the air soon.

The system then notified him of the change and let him inspect the skill.

Ellie has unlocked the skill: Wingbeat (Common)

Wingbeat (Common)

Your wings are growing with every level you gain, but with this skill they will help you fly even sooner. Channel mana into your wings in order to move rapidly in any direction you choose. Each subsequent flap requires exponentially more mana and stamina.
Cooldown: None

Leo did wonder if she received tooltips like this one. He hadn’t exactly taught her to read, so maybe the system told her in dragon language? A question he wouldn’t find the answer to until she grew old enough—or learned the skill—in order to speak to him.

He could still speak to her however, and what better time to do so than now.

“Did lil’ Ellie get a cool new skill?” Leo asked, voice praising, if a little like talking to a puppy.

She didn’t seem offended by his tone, if anything, perking up at the words. In response she flapped her wings hard and she was sent flying backwards, kicking up all the dust in front of her as Leo shielded his eyes.

It was much faster than Leo was expecting, similar to his dash that he could do with his boots, but slower than his Spark Dash.

It sent her careening into a wall, but just before she crashed, another flap stopped her momentum and sent her flying a different way. Leo took back what he thought about it being more controlled.

It was like watching a fly trying to exit through an open window. Easy in theory, but apparently very difficult.

It wasn’t until Leo told her to stop that she finally relented from her flying practice. Her mana and stamina were less than ten percent at this point. One more flap and she would be empty with how much it had exponentially increased in cost.

“Alrighty.” Leo put his foot down. “No more of this practice for now, okay? You should get some rest so you can help me fight in the next battle.”

She looked down at her feet, a feeling of guilt overcoming her.

“You sure were fast though!” Leo tried to cheer her up. “You can definitely practice later, okay?”

She bounded forward and disappeared into Leo’s soul-space where he felt her instantly fall asleep.

Leo smiled. I need to remember she’s still a baby. Lil-murder baby that still needs her naps.

Now that Leo was alone, he decided to pick up the pace a little and move to the roofs. Wind manifested around his shoulders into the shape of a Cloak once again.

Bending his knees, he pushed power into them before releasing the tension. A moment later he was above the rooftops, gliding down to the closest. His leg twitched a little with pain, but it was healing fast. Not enough to inhibit him any longer. Vitality was a good stat.

From here, it was a choice of where to go next.

One direction sent him towards the castle, which according to the system was inaccessible. The other was towards the keep. A broken, damaged thing that looked to be on its last legs. In between both options sat many, many buildings he could spend days upon days exploring.

Something that would definitely interest him, as nothing felt worse than going towards the quest objective and missing an optional loot room.

Leo shrugged. “Guess I’ll loot my way towards the keep.”

And so, for the next few hours, Leo spent his time dashing from roof to roof, looking for any buildings of interest. A few fights came along the way, netting him a level in both his bond and class. Fighting antlings of his own level and above gave him a nice amount of experience. It was a surprise to not see any Goliaths or other variants, but he hadn’t exactly explored much. This inner city was much larger than he’d ever anticipated.

In his exploration, he found a few items of note, mostly crafting materials that he had no idea the use for of common rarity, and a small garden that had various herbs. They definitely looked more interesting than the weeds from the outer city. Although, he didn’t exactly stop to check, or really look all that hard for plants of use. Too busy killing bugs.

The sun began to set in the sky as he started to wind down his exploration. The last building on his list was one he thought about waiting for another day, or perhaps after gathering more people, but he couldn’t help himself in the end. Cecelia would understand if he was late.

He cleared out the surrounding antlings in a bloody but efficient murder-spree. Earning himself and Ellie some nice experience and Store Credits.

“You better have some good stuff in you,” Leo threatened the building before him.

The words; Bank of Lurentis, were written in gilded letters across the front of the exquisite building.

It was like looking at a Greek temple. Polished white stone climbed high, each block etched with fine lines of gold that caught the light of the setting sun. The facade curved outward in gentle symmetry, framed by two great columns that reached towards the pointed roof.

Wide steps led to arched doors of dark metal, their surface engraved with an elegant crest—a single coin suspended between open hands. Even dulled by years of grime, dust and what seemed to be blood, it looked important. Not too gaudy, not too loud, but definitely rich.

Leo climbed the small, yet wide steps in a few quick leaps. Placing his hand upon the metal door, he got a feeling from his Voltaic Reflex. Not that of imminent threat upon his life, but more of an increase to his danger senses. Danger so far had been quite conspicuous, so he hadn’t paid too much attention to it. But quickly re-reading the skill did explain things.

Voltaic Reflex (Common)

Your nerves and instincts are laced with latent lightning, your thoughts become motion. The spark will show you the way.

Grants increased danger sense and reflexes.

Scales with Agility

Cooldown: None

The skill had been one of his greatest boons so far. Without it, he’d have probably taken a lot more hits, or worse. So now that this simple metal door he was touching set off that danger sense in a way it hadn’t before…

“This could be an interesting one,” he muttered.

He pushed the door gently, it didn’t move.

He pushed harder. Still nothing.

“Alright. The hard way it is.”

He pulled both his hands back, his arms giving off steam as Fuel the Fire burned his stamina in exchange for power.

*Crash*

They impacted the door, sending the doors rattling backwards as whatever strength needed was met.

His smile faded as quickly as it formed.

Danger screamed into his mind as his instincts told him to fall back. Not to enter.

More than that…

Run.

So he did, taking off at full speed. But half a second too late.

The entrance to the bank was consumed by shadow, as whatever he’d triggered or awakened completely consumed his surroundings.

Tentacles of terrifying shadow exploded out from the doors entrance, all of them locked on Leo.

Leo pushed his whole body as hard as it would go as he took off, two Spark Dashes, his boots’ dash, Lightning Stance. Anything to get away.

It wasn't enough.

A tentacle wrapped around his ankle, then another. In response, he tried to grab onto something, but his strength wasn't high enough to hold on, even pushing his stamina into Fuel the Fire past his body's limits didn’t let him keep hold.

The shadow was sapping him of his strength as it curled around his body. He could feel himself losing consciousness, and in the last moments he managed to forcefully eject Ellie from his soul-space.

The last thing he heard as his eyes closed was an ungodly cry from some kind of eldritch abomination.

And the heartbreaking, worried cry from a little dragon.