CRACK! Black scales covered Arad's skin from head to toe, shifting into clothes and armor in the blink of an eye. He extended his hand forward, pointing at the dazed woman.
"The poison in Mira's wound, I can smell it on your hands. Are you the one who made it?" He said in a calm voice.
The woman's head cracked, shaking from one side to the other. "I...did...I...Alchemist..."
The fighter in the back growled, "A psionic monster!" He lifted his blade up, "Release her at once!"
BAM! The fighter lunged forward, swinging his sword sideways.
Arad pulled the woman toward, him, jumping into the sky and avoiding the strike with ease.
CRACK! The fighter stomped as hard as he could, taking a deep breath and looking up, his palms clenching on the sword hilt, ready to strike.
In the sky, he could see Arad biting the woman's neck. Her body withered and disintegrated in the blink of an eye.
Arad looked down, there were three mages remaining with the fighter. Taking them first should be a wise decision, he doesn't know what spells they can throw out.
"You are the back, who wants to get eaten first?" He smiled.
"You're dead!" The fighter growled as one of the mages pointed his staff at him. [Haste]
The other two did the same. [Empower] [Iron Fortress] Their magic flew into the fighter's bones and skin, bolstering his power like never before.
He smiled, skin glowing red as the air around him twisted, his body heated up and he smiled from ear to ear. "Let's slay the monster!"
Arad looked down with a smile, standing upside down in the air, "Slay? What?"
The two glared at each other for a moment, and the fighter suddenly disappeared.
Arad's eyes darted from left to right, trying to locate the heavy man.
Fighters are trained in multiple arts, and from them is the art of escaping their opponent's vision. After years of rigorous training and battles, they can spot and determine the shortest route and accelerate at an incredible rate.
After panicking for a fraction of a second, Arad's mind calmed down. He doesn't need to see the fighter to see him. As long as he's an intelligent being with a thinking mind, he's always going to leave a trail.
A tail emerged from Arad's back, blocking the fighter's sword with ease, without him looking back.
The fighter growled, "Blind sense? Very well, let's see how far you can go!"
Arad smiled, "A sword? I ate yours earlier. Did you have a spare one?"
"I have a spare for my spare, and a spare for that as well, and several other weapons tucked away. Don't underestimate fighters." The fighter pulled a dagger from his waist and swung at Arad's neck.
CLANG! CLANG! Arad turned around, swinging his palm and deflecting the attacks.
The fighter started sweating. Arad was fighting him without a weapon, only if you didn't count the weird gauntlet that emerged with the scales earlier.
"Get the girl!" The fighter shouted, kicking Arad away.
One of the mages rushed toward the unconscious Mira. He pointed his wand at her head, mana gathered at the tip as a blue magic circle appeared.
CLICK! The fighter froze, seeing Arad smile, pointing a finger at the mage. A dreadful wave of magic rose from his body, rushing in a purple haze of twisting waves. [Gravity]
CRACK! The mage's body floated up, and smacked right back on the ground, bouncing like a ball till his bones turned to mush.
"Damned squishy mages!" The fighter growled, lunging at Arad, "Look at me!" He swung his sword.
[Action surge] [Adrenaline Rush] The fighter roared at the top of his lungs, unleashing a blinding sixteen attacks in the blink of an eye.
CLANG! The sword shattered as the fighter flashed beside Arad, landing between the trees with a growl.
Behind him, in the sky, Arad floated with his wings covering his body. They slowly opened up as he stared back. A half-dragon form, with two massive black wings, large horns, scales, and claws covering his arms and legs, and a long whip-like tail with black bone spikes covering it.
The fighter threw the broken blade and smiled, "As expected, a dragon. I won't be able to kill with normal means, will I?" He pulled an arrow from his pocket.
A long black tip and a long and thick black shaft. Strange symbols are drawn in the wood, oozing with a gust of arcane magic.
^[Arrows of dragon slaying. Don't get hit, or they will dig right through your scales. But they are expensive and hard to make. He won't have more than an arrow or two, three at best.]^
The fighter smiled, "You have noticed? I don't have much, only this one." The fighter giggled, "Since I saved my money for this, or should I say the client's money." He pulled out a black long sword, marked with hundreds of arcane runes.
"Do you know of this one?" The fighter smiled, "Impressed? Dragons should be telling their wyrmlings horror stories of this blade." As the fighter swung the sword, the air around it quaked, shivering as the magic inside the metal burned.
^[The dragon slayer sword. It takes the form of a typical longsword but is black in color. It was forged five thousand years ago by the dwarves to slay a tyrant dragon. Since that day, it was sold around like an art piece, since no one is stupid enough to face a dragon head on wielding it.]^
Arad floated down, staring at the fighter in the face. "I'm the one named a dragon slayer, not you. I'm taking that sword."
"On my corpse, dragon." The fighter lifted the sword up, taking a wrath stance. "On my blood and soul, you shall not live to see tomorrow."
Arad nodded, "I see. Wealth only belongs to those strong enough to rob it. I shall take the sword and your corpse as a dinner."
The older Arad got, the more he got attuned to his draconic nature, the more of their arrogant and dominating selfishness.
Dragons are proud and arrogant, and think the world belongs to them. It's their birthright to fly high and mighty, staring down at the ants they could burn with a single breath.
^Doma, I need a spear, a solid one. Have an idea?^
Arad smiled, lifting his hand up, and a violent gust of wind swirled around him. Stones got pulled from the ground, compressing into a single long pole. A conjuration of earth magic, compressed by gravity and void magic to create a durable, yet heavy stone shaft.
The fighter blinked twice, seeing something silvery in color glowing at the pole's hard tip. A kitchen knife with a strange aura around it, yet he couldn't mistake it.
"Where the hell did you get that?" The fighter smiled.
"The same way I'm going to get that sword." Arad smiled, spinning the spear around his body, and then pointing the tip at the fighter.
"True damage weapons aren't something you can find easily," The fighter giggled, "How about we make a deal? Interested?"
Arad stared at him, "Making deals at this point?"
"As you see, this thing is only useful against true dragons. Using it means risking a direct confrontation. It isn't that useful weapon to me, very situational." He smiled, walking sideways while keeping his eyes on Arad's face.
"Give me the knife, and I will give you the sword. I will even throw a pretty penny with it, a hundred platinum coins." The fighter glared at Arad, "Our client also wants the girl, don't even know who he is. But he would pay us a generous one thousand platinum coin for her to be delivered alive."
Arad walked to keep pace with the fighter, and the mages held their breaths. Depending on what Arad says, they might not walk alive from this.
Arad smiles, "Fine, but bring the money first, or none of you are leaving alive."
The fighter lifted his palm, "Open the lock," he shouted at the mages.
"But! We can't do that!" One of them growled, "Making a deal with a dragon is risky. It's far riskier than dealing with devils!"
"Hehehe," Arad giggled, his wings wiggling, and waving as he glared back at the mage. His stance shifted, as he waved his palm, "Lives, expired. To you, this could end up as a boon, or with only doom."
"Open the lock!" The fighter shouted, "It's a deal, otherwise, everyone might die. He hasn't transformed yet,"
The mage growled, waving his wand and opening a tiny portal close to the fighter's shoulder. The fighter shifted his arm and pulled a sack from the portal with a smile on his face.
CLANG! He threw the sack toward Arad with the sword, "There should be over one hundred platinum coins in there."
Arad nodded with a smile, throwing the knife at the fighter.
The fighter sighed in relief as did the mages.
"Done deal, it's over." Arad smiled, "You have the knife, and I have the money and the sword." Arad picked up the dragon slayer sword and glared at the fighter.
"Now for you to pay for kidnapping Mira," Arad giggled, "I look forward to looting the knife back from your corpse. And selling whatever is in your camp,"
The fighter froze, "The camp?"
A wave of magic started surging from Arad's body, "The moment you opened that tiny portal, I could sense thoughts from the other side. All I needed was to link it with magic and locate where is the other side." Arad clenched his fist, "No more dealing, it's OVER!"
Arad's eyes burned with eldritch flames as he lunged at the fighter with an open palm.
The fighter tried to block the attack, but Arad grabbed his wrist, jamming the knife back into his forehead.
As Arad landed beside the mages, the fighter's chest exploded in a rain of blood.
"Four!" He's counting.
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