Dual Class [LitRPG] – Current Vol 4

Drake’s body was more than just battered and bruised, but he still had enough gas in the tank to keep going. He had to keep going, if he gave up here, just because Bear was a seemingly insurmountable wall and a few small flesh wounds he would never grow.

 Steel is forged through fire as they say. Drake assured himself inwardly, But fucking hell is it still scary. He thought as he wearily looked up again from his seat inside the mountain side -his side stinging from the cauterizing of the nasty wound- at Bear who stood patiently. Bear looking at Drake expressionless from a few yards away, his huge claymore humming with a faint white aura of power around it at his side.

 Drake looked inwardly and his time for his Guardian’s Reprieve shield felt as if it was almost off cooldown, but that also meant his Unbreakable buff was running out soon.

 He didn’t have much time to think, he needed to end this within the next minute.

One way or another.

 I still have my trump card and plenty of mana in the tank to use something big. I don’t want to keep going in for a close range fight when he’s proven more than once it's futile but… Fuck! I don’t have a choice! Drake screamed inwardly.

 Drake forced himself to stay standing, his ribs aching with every movement. They were mostly crushed from the last hit he took and he could feel it. If he wanted to stay in the fight he needed to keep his lungs filled with air from his spell, but at the same time he needed the Dexterity bonus from the Endowment.

 Steeling himself, he finally readied his body. Exhaling, the pain from his chest flared up forcing him to wince in pain, the next moment he canceled his endowment to cast a Wind Cutter and Fireball in his hands once more forcing the ball of air into his mouth as he breathed the spell in deep holding his breath. Casting it again in the same hand, crushing it as he forced the Endowment back, everything cascading into a green shine in the torchlight.

 Drake shot forward, ignoring the screaming protests from his body, thankful for a pain tolerance skill. Throwing the fireball forward, he recast a fireball and a Water Shot, willing the fireball above his shoulder.

 The first fireball reached Bear’s feet in an instant, kicking up dust and hopefully disorienting the man. Drake stopped short and threw the ball of water at Bear’s feet, then continued to bombard him with a stream of water, hoping to muddy his footing.

 Bear swung his arm and cleared the dust forming around him, his eyes locking in Drake the next moment.

 Drake stiffened for a half step as their gazes met, but shook his head, forcing himself to recover. Using his Reprieval Teleport to get above Bear. Drake exhaled in pain, gripping the fireball above his shoulder, switching to the Fire Endowment, simultaneously casting two Wind Cutters, shoving one down his throat for air, and willing the second one to his feet.

 Bear turned to greet Drake, as Drake’s Wind Cutter exploded outwards on Drake’s extended leg, pushing him into a spinning heel kick. His body glimmering in red, his heel meet Bear’s collar bone with thunderous force. The sound of crashing metal accompanying it.

 But Bear was unflinching. Again Drake's blow didn’t even make the man budge from the blow, even with his footing becoming more and more unstable. Just how solid was he?

 Drake didn’t give up. Casting another two Wind Cutters he pushed himself to the side with his left and used the other to continue his momentum and force into a spinning roundhouse, aimed at the back of Bear’s head.

 Bear ducked deftly. Drake’s leg passing over his head harmlessly.

 Drake cursed inwardly, but he expected it to go this way for now and continued his assault. His aim was to wait for the right moment biding his time until some kind of opening, some kind of mistep presented itself.

 He continued to assail Bear with as much spatial movement as he could with his Wind Cutter. Moving back and forth to keep in his blind spot, adding in Water Shots at Bear’s feet as he weaved his Wind Cutter to move and breath in between blows.

 Drake shot to the left, then to the right, pushing himself to endure the pain from the abrupt shifts in momentum, as he shot forward from the push of a Wind Cutter, his fist extended to strike at Bear’s right elbow-side kidney.

 But that was Drake’s mistake. Bear leaned his body enough that it passed right by him and grabbed Drake by the throat. Bringing him up to eye level before reeling him backwards to hurl him at the mountain.

 This was the moment Drake was waiting for. Just before he was launched into the air he shouted, "Fear is binding, Cower!"

 Drake’s hands gripping Bear’s giving the spell an instant effect as dark purple like tendrils shot from the black magic circle in Drake’s palm. Twisting and crawling until they wrapped themselves around Bear’s head and disappeared, as Drake was flung into the air.

 He then used his last stored charge of teleport to save himself from hitting the mountain side, instead putting him a few meters right above Bear. The teleport killed Drake’s momentum so he only had a few seconds to gather mana into a spell. Bear assumingly feared for 5 seconds below him.

 Drake canceled his Fire Endowment and began gathering both Wind and Fire in each respective hand, dumping his mana into each, as they grew to the sizes of wrecking balls.

 He glared mirthfully down at Bear, praying this spell would at least incapacitate the man.

 The glowing ball of fire and the turbulent ball of wind continued to grow until Drake had put everything but a sliver of his mana into them, glancing at his Health and Stamina, he barely had enough to survive after a unique cast.

 Drake slammed the spells together, forming a ball of fire covered in a shell of wind, perpetuating the growth and intensity of the flames contained inside.

 Reeling back his fist, his body glowed red, "Divineeeeee!!" his magic flared at his word, condensing, and squeezing into the size of a baseball, it turning into a white hot miniature rotating sun, "BUSTER!!!" Drake roared as he threw his fist into the ball, propelling it down on top of Bear. 

 The spell undulated and curved as it streaked to the ground, leaving a plasma like trail from the point of impact with Drake’s fist.

 Drake prayed and counted in his head the seconds remaining on the fear.

 Four

 Three

 NO! HOW?! Drake screamed in his head, time slow enough in his mind that he could see Bear’s head turn upwards, his eyes focused.

 After a second that seemed like an eternity in Drake's mind, Bear finally moved his claymore down into a drawing motion, his body glowing a sinister black, and his claymore shimmering in a more intense white.

 "The world will bear witness to my overwhelming power." Bear recited, Drake’s ball of plasma inching closer, "Sky Splitting Strike," Bear’s voice was soft, but clearly audible in Drake’s ears.

 A streak of white light shattered and split Drake’s spell. Parting it, as both halves embedded themselves into the ground, melting the ground with an unatural hissing sound turning it to lava where the spell landed.

 The streak of power passed through the spell like a hot knife through butter and continued in Drake’s vision, clear as day. It was pure unbridled power. Cutting through everything before it. It was.

 "Beautiful," Drake muttered in awe.

 The sky was lit up in a ray of white light as it closed in on Drake. He had nothing left. He could see the skill coming, his Adrenaline Acuity giving him the clarity of perception, but his body couldn’t react in time. Drake was forced to just helplessly watch as it moved in slow motion towards him.

 The skill encroached closer on Drake finally just centimeters from him, but the blow wasn’t trained at him directly.

 Bear had taken into account where Drake was, and the blow skid across Drake’s right arm, incinerating the skin and flesh from the side of his arm as it passed him.

 Drake was pushed into a spinning free fall as he plummeted to the ground, his consciousness waning. Drake fought to stay conscious, needing to cast a Stone Bullet to cast Earth Endowment.

 The ground quickly approached just as Drake finished the spell, and he crashed into it. The last thing he saw was the expression of terror on Natto’s face as he hit the ground.

 His heart and mind filled with regret, as he sunk like a falling star into the ground. 

 He had somehow kept conscious, but barely. He was waning in and out, sounds muffled and the edges of his vision darkening quickly.

 Drake began hearing voices shouting but could barely make them out.

 "Dr..ke!!"

 "The.. po.t..on!"

 Drake could barely feel his body but a sharp tug towards his stomach forced him to wince again. The next moment a cool liquid filled his mouth.

 He couldn’t breath, his body was in tatters, but he was forced to swallow the liquid lest he suffocate. A soothing feeling filled him as the liquid dripped down his throat.

 Drake could feel his body more adeptly, but just barely. The voices becoming slightly more clear. Clear enough that he could make out who was speaking now, if only vaguely.

 "Get away from him!" Natto shouted, "If you touch him I will end your sad miserable life!!"

 Drake tried to lift his head, his vision blurry and darkening. But he could barely make out a small figure holding something in their hand and a taller figure looking like a monster bearing down in front of it.

 "Na.. Natto.. Don.. Don’t fight.." he said with barely a whisper.

 His head fell back to the ground, as he felt hands grip his collar now, "Drake! Drake!! If you can hear me you need to listen carefully, " the voice said shakily, sniffles breaking up the words, "Y-you do not have enough regeneration to recover from this and we are unable to use another potion.. You have a Regeneration Stone you have yet to use. I-i I need you to get it and use it, now!" the feeling of water suddenly touched and ran down his cheek.

 Drake fought to even stay coherent but heard the voice well enough to follow the instructions, he willed his inventory open and plucked the stone mentally from his inventory. It appearing in his hand, but slipped from his grasp.

 He cursed weakly, breathing heavily with rasps of intense seething pain.

 But he felt the smooth glass like stone enter his hand again and small shivering hands curled his around it.

 

 [You wish to consume Skill Stone: Regeneration [Uncommon]

 [Confirm?]

 

 Fuck you… yes… Drake cursed.

 

 [You have learned Skill: Sound Body and Mind [F-Rank]

 

 "Excellent! Just like that Drake… It is not working! I said fucking stay away!!" the voice shouted, "Damn it! What can he do, what can I do? What can he use?!" The voice rambled, panic obvious in the voice, "The Fire Stone! Drake please if you can still hear me, I need you to do one more thing… The Fire Stone! It is a gamble but I can not think of anything else to save you…"

 Without hesitation, Drake mechanically grasped the stone from his inventory, his conscious on its last leg as he trepidly went through the motions to accept the prompts as he slowly began to black out.

 

 [You wish to consume Skill Stone: Fire [Rare]

 [Confirm?]

 

 ……

 

 [You have learned Skill: Tempered in Flames [F-Rank]

 

 Drake couldn’t hold out any longer and his vision completely blacked out, sounds once again becoming muffled. The darkness taking him, only the scattered sounds of someone screaming slithering their way into his waning psyche.