Level 1 Fallen

"Are you alright, Drake?" Diane asked softly after Wisteria disappeared, and I gave a slow nod of my head. I hadn't expected the truth to be like that. It… it made sense, in a way. That was why only wild boss monsters could be farmed and have their traits drop repeatedly, while someone like myself still had to worry about the trait disappearing for good.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I said with a long, drawn-out sigh. "Anyways… how does this factor into your plan?" I asked, holding up the charm that Wisteria had brought us.

Diane gave a firm nod, slipping back into her character. "This is perfect. Better than anything I had hoped for. If we have this, then we can go under the radar any time we want. If our dragon hunt fails today, then there won't be much to worry about when it comes to hiding from now on. And if it works, then we can keep it for emergencies. At the very least, it would be useful for you to make people think you are a proper player."

I smiled slightly at that, silently agreeing. There had been some issues already when interacting with people, because they had found out about my true level. The difficulty that we faced getting into the League of Assassins was only one such case, with another being when we were getting my equipment commissioned from Hammerhead.

"Let's go hunt a dragon, then." I muttered, and Diane's eyes seemed to briefly shine. Clearly, she was excited for this, especially now that we had been given the special stone that would ensure that he wasn't able to return quickly.

The two of us carefully climbed the mountain, doing or best to stay out of sight, just in case he had any minions watching the area. I doubted it personally, since he seemed like more of a loner, but I couldn't be sure. Soon, we heard the roaring of flames from deeper in the mountains, and the crushing of stones. Peeking our heads over the ledge, we saw a ten meter long dragon with pitch black scales standing within a rocky clearing.

His wings were fully extended, and he was releasing a flaming breath against a large boulder, causing it to redden and begin to melt. Behind him, his tail smashed against another rock, shattering it with the force of the impact.

Is he skill training? Diane asked, keeping the conversation to private messages for the moment. I nodded my head, thinking that there was no other reason for the dragon's actions than as a form of skill training. Perhaps the local creatures were too weak for him to consider hunting them, or he was just bored.

Regardless, seeing the damage inflicted by its flaming breath, as well as its tail slap, I wasn't keen on the idea of being hit by either method of attack. Though, Diane seemed to be a bit more observant, narrowing her eyes at him after he finished his flaming breath. Is it just me, or does he seem to have mana burnout?

That caused me to pause, and I focused my skills to observe him. After releasing his flaming breath, the dragon was panting heavily, eyes weary. It was hard to tell on such a nonhuman entity, but it did indeed match the typical description of mana burnout.

Should we attack him before he recovers? I asked, to which Diane shook her head.

No. We're not just here to kill him, remember. We're here to send a message. If we can't show him that your victory is more than a fluke, that you are stronger than him even at his best, he will just try to come back in a rage. If he thinks that he can beat you with just a little more effort, he'll call on any allies he can. What we need to do is give him a crushing defeat, so that he doesn't dare to make another attempt until he is confident in his own power.

I gulped, but nodded my head. What should we do, then?

If he is skill training, then he will be using his skills again as soon as his burnout ends. For now, put your shadow archer at a good sniping point. Once you're ready, let me know, and we will approach him from the front.

I nodded again, directing my archer to the highest of the nearby peaks. From there, it would be able to shoot the dragon even if it took to the skies, as long as it didn't fly too far away. After I signaled to Diane, the two of us came out of stealth, and climbed over the ledge to walk towards the clearing where the dragon was resting.

The two of us had already canceled our disguises, fully equipped in our best gear. When the dragon saw me, a half-orc walking towards him, he growled. "Who the hell are you two? Don't you know who I am? Get lost, before I crush you like the bugs you are."

"That will be hard to do when you are under mana burnout, Drake." Diane said in a cold tone, her blades glistening in her hands. "Don't worry, we're not there to ambush you. If we were, you would have never seen us coming. We want you to fully recover before we fight you."

"And why should I bother fighting two maggots like you?" He asked, drawing himself to his full, impressive height. "Mana or no, I could destroy the two of you with one swipe of my claws.'

Diane looked at me meaningfully, and I removed my helmet, staring firmly at the black dragon. "I hear that you've been looking for me."

That caused the dragon to pause, before its head tilted back in a roaring laughter. "Oh, this is perfect! A month I've been hunting for you, but you walked right to my door? What, have you come to offer me your trait?" I have even prepared a respawn anchor, just for you." He said with a malicious grin.

Hearing about the respawn anchor, Diane and I looked at one another again. Sure enough, the stone that Wisteria gave us would be important indeed. Without it, the dragon would simply respawn right in front of us, even if we did manage to kill it. "Not quite. I'm here to kill you. And I will do so as many times as it takes to get you off of my back." I said, turning my attention back towards the dragon, who let out another raucous laugh.

"A pathetic, level one half-orc wants to fight a mighty dragon? Or, are you just here to spectate and watch your little halfling girlfriend there fight your battle for you?" He asked in a taunting tone. "Even if you have managed to acquire some skills with the trait I gave you, you will find yourself utterly powerless in a real battle. A failure will always be a failure."

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At this point, I half expected Diane to say that she wouldn't be fighting at all, similar to the Wisteria fight. However, instead, I felt a rather intense bloodlust oozing off of her, her hands clenching her daggers. "We're fighting you. Together. Now, are you done stalling for time to let your mana recover? I already said that we were going to let you recover fully."

The dragon glowered at that, its tail lashing out from behind to strike towards Diane. Without thinking, I stepped in front of the tail, activating my Crystal Wall skill to create a wall of red gems, though the tail easily smashed through the wall, knocking me back.

By the time I stood up, Diane was nowhere to be seen, the dragon glaring as it looked around for her. "The mouth on that halfling. I'll enjoy tormenting her as the two of you respawn together." The dragon growled, while I held my arm forward.

With a thought, I sent five Scorching Spears at the dragon, who chuckled even as the sandy spears crashed into his body and exploded. The laughter never ceased as the smoke gradually cleared, showing that the dragon was entirely unharmed. "Like I said, even if you managed to overcome that shitty negative trait and learn some magic skills, your power is worthless here."

As he said that, a series of three arrows whizzed in from the nearby peak. The black and blue arrows shattered against the dragon's scales, while the yellow one seemed to at least dig in slightly, even if there was not much damage done. My eyes widened at the realization, and I called out to the empty space. "He has a high degree of magic resistance, maybe even total immunity!"

To be unphased by my fire, earth, shadow, or even unattributed magic, the only explanation was extreme resistance or total immunity. If my ki arrow hadn't stuck in, I might have just thought that he had a very high natural defense, but that didn't seem to be the case. Granted, his defense was high for the arrow not to cause much damage, but it wasn't enough that it would explain the other skills not working.

Drake growled at that, eyes narrowing as he swept the clearing with his gaze. "Even if you know that, what good would it do you? Your greatest strength is your magic. That is the only reason that you were able to win against that assassin girl. With your magic sealed, what can you do to defeat me?"

As he asked that, his tail lashed out again, striking towards me. This time, I didn't choose to take the attack, but rather used Glancing Steps-X to evade, appearing on another tall rock. It seemed curious that he wasn't using his skills yet. Diane mentioned that he preferred to fight with his physical body, so perhaps he was just saving them for now? He did apparently plan to kill us repeatedly.

Diane appeared on the dragon's back, cleaving into its neck. Drake let out a roar of anger, his scales cut open. However, Diane flipped back rather than continuing to attack, ducking behind another rock.

If it is like this, he will have to use a skill to fight us. I thought to myself, preparing. It was obvious that we would win in a battle of attrition if Drake refused to activate any skills, especially now that my shadow archer was pelting him with ki arrows, forcing him to shield himself with a wing.

The dragon seemed to get that idea as well, growling in frustration. "Fine! You want to die so badly!? Let your bodies be reduced to cinders!"

The dragon brought both of its wings up, shielding its head and torso as a large magic circle appeared beneath its body. The arrows flying in couldn't pierce through its wings, causing the dragon to only grunt in frustration as it began to chant. "Burning blood of the ancient wyrm, echoing fire of my soul. Descend, become a calamity. Reduce all that exists to molten slag!"

A dense ball of flame appeared above the dragon's body, and I had the very distinct feeling that I did not want to take this attack. Looking around, I quickly used Glancing Steps-X to flee the battlefield, the ball of fire descending to strike down at the dragon itself. Soon, I was hundreds of meters away, and felt a scorching heat at my back.

When I turned around, I saw a pillar of flames that had appeared in the clearing where we were originally fighting. My fists clenched, wondering if Diane had fled the area in time. My shadow archer had perished, but I immediately resummoned it, ordering it to resume the fight.

When the flames cleared, I rushed back in, appearing beneath the dragon. Drake seemed surprised at my appearance, his eyes weary. Was his mana burnt out already? Regardless, I clenched my fists. "I didn't need magic to fight Wisteria." I corrected Drake's earlier assumption. "I just thought it would be a lot cooler."

My fist flew up towards the underside of his jaw, knocking his head upwards as a golden projection followed my move. "If magic won't work on you, then I won't use magic." I said, clapping my hands together.

I focused, channeling my Martial Intent-X skill as my body began to glow golden. As I took a defensive stance, one hand raised in front of me while the other was held at my side, Drake's claw swept in.

I took a deep breath, activating my Counter Attack skill. A large projection, identical to my own body, appeared behind me. This projection grabbed the dragon's incoming claw as I reached out towards it. Then, when I brought one leg up, so did the projection, kicking the dragon in its neck.

This projection of mine stood nearly as large as the dragon itself, and took a great deal of focus to maintain. However, I wasn't particularly worried. I believed that I had figured out my opponent's weakness.

It wasn't that Drake preferred to use his physical body as opposed to skills. Rather, he had no other choice. Magic immunity would be a very highly rated trait, perhaps even ten stars. And that meant that his negative would be extremely severe as well. I looked up at Drake, grinning at the realization. His negative trait must have severely hampered his ability to cast skills. That was why he was so desperate for my trait, and why he would only use a skill if it was such a sure-kill move.

Admittedly, his magic was incredibly powerful, enough so that it had scorched the battlefield where he cast it, leaving me standing on molten rocks. My feet burned, but it was worth it to get this close to him, only requiring me to keep healing myself. My right hand opened, and a thick blade of energy formed in the hand of my projection, which began to slash at the dragon's neck. He flailed, screaming profanities while his tail and claws tore at my projection.

My own body was thankfully shielded by this projection, which was the only reason I wasn't being thrown back. Diane said that we needed an overwhelming win, so I was going to cut his head off in a straight-on confrontation.

With every slash, his resistance increased, until finally, his body slumped, and he fell to the ground. Golden arrows stuck out of his side like a pincushion, and scorching blood flowed freely from his severed neck.

Where is his respawn point? I quickly messaged Diane. If she was caught in the blast earlier, then she was surely face to face with a newly respawned Drake. Unless, of course, if Diane was forced to go all the way back to Athua when she died.

"No idea!" She called out verbally, standing beyond the edge of the molten rock. There was a glimmer of pride in her tone. "I ran after the first hit. Knew he'd be using a big skill soon. Just needed to get in close enough to slip that stone into his body."

My eyes widened at that, recalling when she had cut open Drake's scales. She must have slipped the stone into the wound, considering her job complete after that. I looked around, half expecting to hear the roar of an angry dragon. Instead, there was only the constant sizzling of my own feet. Which… now that the adrenaline was wearing off, caused me to cry out in pain, jumping out of the blackened zone.