Infinite Realm: Monsters & Legends

Ambush

The roar of the dragon echoed through the cavern. In the faint light filled with shadows—mostly produced by a few glowing gems on a pile of items, crystals, and things that Zach didn’t even have the time to identify—he could see the expressions of everyone around him.

Basthec’s surprise and worried face morphed into an eager grin, the man that Zach remembered from the tournament peeking through. Varia and Kethasi looked toward the entrance, their expressions calm and expectant. They were monster hunters; this was what they did for a living. Naha exchanged a look with Zach from his side, and he saw the predator in her peeking through.

But all of them had seen the hoard, the massive mound of treasure. It meant that they faced an Elder Dragon, the rarest of the dragon monster type. It was dangerous, perhaps more dangerous, but not necessarily in the way that they had expected. Basthec had provided information on dragons prior to them leaving, and Zach had done some research himself. One thing separated Elder Dragons from other types: they were intelligent monsters, they could think and speak, just like any of the nine races. It did not mean that they were stronger, but… fighting an opponent that could think and reason intelligently was a lot harder than fighting a monster that was mindless or just driven by its instincts.

The Elder Dragons were the rarest of the dragon type monsters, for a simple reason, their hoards. The cavern was filled with treasure, items looted from adventurers and caravans, high tiered monster bones, crystals and gems of all kinds. That was the reason why they were rare, because adventurers were willing to risk everything to get to them, because they were hunted everywhere.

The dragon roared again, louder this time; it was getting closer.

“We have two choices,” Basthec said, turning to Zach. “It’s roaring on approach to its lair, they do that to intimidate any monsters that might’ve remained in its territory. It will take its time to circle around its lair, we have time to escape. Or we can set up our trap now, quickly.”

The drake glanced back at the cavern and the treasure.

“If we leave… the dragon will notice that we were here. Our protection prevents its power senses from feeling our presence, but it will smell our presence in here. We won’t catch it unaware again.”

She looked at the treasure along with everyone else. “It’s a hoard,” Varia said with more passion in her voice than he had heard from her before. “This can set us up for life. If we leave… if someone else finds it, they will take it.”

“I’ve given you the choice,” Basthec said his eyes gleaming. “Regardless of what you chose, I am staying. This is why I became an adventurer.”

Zach saw Naha look around, then back at Zach. “We might not find another dragon for years,” she whispered. “And with whatever we find here, we can do a lot.”

Everyone seemed to be in agreement. Zach nodded his head; he had never intended to run. They had prepared, this was the reason why they had come.

“We fight,” Zach said.

“Varia, you and Kethasi are near the entrance, place your arrays and get ready to use your powers,” the two control specialists sprung into motion as Basthec turned to Zach and Naha. “The two of you place your things as we discussed before, then hide and get ready. We are going to hit it with enough powers and array to stun it, you two need to hide and hit it hard and fast to kill it while it is down. I’ll draw its attention if it is necessary.”

Zach and Naha moved, setting up inside the cavern, but closer to the entrance. The plan had always been to find the dragon’s lair. They had protections that kept them from being sensed by powers, and Basthec had powers and items that could let him check if a monster was nearby. They might not have known how powerful or what type the dragon was, but it didn’t really matter. They had brought enough equipment and traps in order to deal with a wide range of opponents. And the ultimate decision was Basthec’s, he was the monster hunting expert and the one that led this mission. Zach only knew that fighting a powerful opponent's head on was very different than laying a trap and ambushing one.

Zach placed the strength amplifying array on the floor, behind some rocks to hide it. It would double the strength of anyone inside the array. Zach and Naha will be expecting it, the dragon will not. The plan called for it to be stunned once it entered, the array itself will disorient it, having one's strength doubled without notice could be disorienting.

Naha’s array would silence power use in a small area for 2 seconds, enough for them to strike.

The last thing that Zach set up was the formation. It was an engraved plate, which would explode with Force Essence when triggered, and Zach had the trigger. He placed it on the floor in front of the entrance and hid it by covering it with a stone that he had in his storage just for that purpose.

The dragon roared again as they placed other items that they had bought for the trap. Barrels filled with water went behind the wall at the entrance, out of sight, all engraved with formations that removed scent and obscured them from sight. Varia and Kethasi downed several potions one after another as they heard the dragon’s roar get closer, followed by a thump of it landing on the plateau.

Naha and Zach did the same. He downed three potions that increased his strength and dexterity, then one that would reduce his ability cooldowns for a short period of time. The last three potions that he drank were ones that increased his resistance, one for fire, one that gave him soul resistance, and the last which made his skin tougher.

Everyone else did the same. He saw Naha blend into the shadows and disappear from his sight as they heard the dragon approaching. Zach was crouching behind a large rock, waiting. Zach wasn’t a good monster hunter, he knew that, but the people he was with were. Fights like this did not last long, the things he had grown up on in books, tv shows, and movies were just a fantasy. Fights were decided in a few key instants, by split decisions. He had seen it firsthand in his fights during the tournament. At the start, their fights against monsters had mostly lasted for quite a bit longer, more from their lack of knowledge than power. But here and now they were prepared, and all of them sat and waited for their prey.

Then, Zach triggered his perks.

With True Link—Nahamassa Plainrunner his awareness of Naha came into being, and he knew exactly where she was.

He activated Last Heir of Terra and felt his stats double just as faint whispers woke up inside his head, each of them eager and waiting.

The Phantom Avatar increased his again, along with his resistance, and the Planar Mantle passive bonus increased his resistances further since his last visited plane was the Ethereal Plane.

Lastly, he pulled his Qi through his body and prepared his {Lightning Strike}

Then, he glanced at his stats, seeing that with the potions and array he had raised his strength and dexterity over ten thousand. That was about the absolute limit of what he could handle, and it had taken him a while to train himself to be able to utilize all of those stats.

The dragon’s steps grew closer and he shifted his hand to his Blood Blade. That blade’s nature was perfect for fighting opponents that might have tough defenses that had small and nearly impenetrable defenses, like dragon scales. Usually, only the most powerful of attacks could break through them, but the blood blade was made out of liquid that burst open skin and flesh. It could flow in between the scales and wreak havoc on the soft flesh beneath. Then, he prepared his Old Heritage and waited. The dragon was nearly there, Zach heard it coming, but didn’t dare look over his hiding place for fear of it seeing him.

Then, sound filled the cavern announcing tremors and a roar filled with rage and pain. It happened in an instant and Zach peaked out. The dragon was deep green in color with blue accents, it had four legs that ended in curving claws that looked like they could pierce through anything and were the size of Zach’s entire arm and two wings that were tucked over its back. Its neck was long and muscled with a large, elongated head and two horns curving backward on top of it. It wasn’t as large as Zach had feared, but it was still the size of a big bus. He glanced at the name tag above its head and saw what they were dealing with.

Werssix: Heir of the Moment (Tier 12)

It was a named monster, as all Elder Dragons were. Its rarity was relic, and it meant that it would be both smart and powerful. He tried to use his ring on it, but for some reason it didn’t work, which Zach just assumed meant that the dragon had some power that prevented that.

The dragon was hit by everything in rapid succession. Varia’s specialty was slowing down her opponents, but she had a few perks that could speed someone up. It was what she had obviously used, as the dragon seemed to be covered in a yellow net that clung to its scales. The dragon had stumbled forward into the trap as she unexpectedly increased its speed. Kethasi had thrown his debuffs, Zach could see scales tearing on the dragon’s legs as it continued moving forward into the other arrays. It tried to stop itself, its legs hitting the ground hard, then as it stomped again it had reached the strength amplifying array and was boosted. Its leg smashed into the stone and cracked it, one of the dragon’s claws bit into the hard stone at an awkward angle as it barely managed to control its strength and the claw fractured. One piece of it ripped out of the finger sending blood flying in the air, while the other ricocheted away. The dragon released a cry of pain and fumbled.

The formation triggered, a sphere of bluish light blasted out of it and hit the dragon, silencing it. That was the cue, and Zach triggered the last array. A directed force explosion burst from below the dragon, hitting it in the underbelly. Zach jumped out of his cover and saw Basthec, his form bulging with different monster parts charging the dragon, while his sense told him that Naha had moved as well. Zach triggered his Old Heritage then used his blink to close the distance. Going through the Real Realm meant that his bonuses switched to those from this plane, and he activated several abilities in quick succession as he came out of his blink above the dragon’s head.

[Planar Wing] appeared on his back and he pointed his free hand, summoning his [Planar Chains] which he wrapped around the dragon’s head and snout, preventing it from using its breath and reducing the dragon’s physical resistance by 20%. The dragon’s eye focused on Zach as he beat his wings and pulled himself with his chains toward the dragon’s head.

He activated more of his perks, he dropped the chains and summoned an Ethereal Sword, with his |Perfect Tempest Dance: My Blades, Whirling Tempest| he spun in the air, starting his attack. He prepared to activate Double Planar Strike and then finally the perk that he had taken from Naha through their True Link—Primal Blow—which made his next attack deal 5x damage.

He swung with his blood blade as the dragon’s scales started growing, then Zach realized that in an instant something resembling dark wood grew out of the monster’s scales, covering it like armor. His blade splashed against it harmlessly, but he was twisting in the air, bringing to bear his Ethereal Sword just over the dragon’s eye. He activated both of the perks that he’d prepared, and his sword smashed into the tough wood. The 5x damage increase and over 10,000 strength meant that he hit with an incredible power. He cut through the wood almost easily, the lightning from his technique charred the wood slightly, and the rest of the armor parted before his attack and hit the scales, cutting them open but with resistance. The follow-up attack from his Double Planar Strike came right behind, hitting the same spot and cutting deeper.

Zach’s momentum kept him spinning in the air, and he brought his blood blade back again, intending to hit the same spot he had just cut open with his sword. Then, suddenly, the dragon’s head wasn’t where it used to be and Zach got a strange feeling. He frowned as his attack missed and he saw that somehow the dragon had landed on the floor and one of its wings was heading Zach’s way, intended to swat him away, but despite the single instance where it moved fast enough to somehow escape Zach’s attack it was still slowed. And every movement it made injured it further, Kethasi’s powers punished it for it.

The wind moved around Zach as he switched to his wind blade and he had it catch the fabric of his cloak, pulling himself back out of range of the attack.

They had hurt it with the arrays and Kethasi had done some surface damage, but it was obviously still capable of fighting. Zach blinked away, evading the wing swat as Basthec reached the dragon, his own wings letting him fly in the cavern. He threw smoke bombs at the dragon’s head, which made it roar in anger and distract it.

Naha slipped out of the shadow, her dagger cutting into the dragon’s back leg, severing a tendon. Everyone knew that Zach needed to do the most damage. She cut and got away immediately as the dragon’s leg gave out and it dropped to a knee on that side. The wood armor lashed out, bare branches growing out like curbed spikes.

Zach focused on his blade and then swung, sending a |Crescent Sealing Slash|. It hit the dragon, but he knew that it would silence its power for only a fraction of a moment, but it was enough to stop the growth of the branches long enough for the others to get away.

“Pests!” The dragon roared as everyone moved out of the way of it lashing out. In an instant, it moved quickly, somehow ignoring the slowing field around it. It turned around and lashed out with its tail, hitting Basthec and sending him flying back to smash into the hoard.

“You dare!” It spoke as it got its bearing. “You came for my hoard, little chosen, weaklings and thieves!”

Zach saw that his attack had done a lot more damage than he had thought, he had cut through the wood and the dragon’s right eye. The other eye glowed with an emerald fire, and it was focused on him.

Zach blinked close to the dragon again, and then he shouted.

Rift Shout ripped the air in front of him, weakening the space in the cavern and creating new weak spots. The force of the shout was physical, and it staggered the dragon, which didn’t last for long. Before he could move in, the dragon smashed his leg into the ground and roots broke out of the stone beneath Zach’s feet, forcing him to take to the air with his wings.

Something about the dragon was bothering him, but he didn’t have the time to worry about that. Another slowing field hit the dragon and just like before its head turned nearly instantly despite it being slowed and ignoring the small wounds that Kethasi’s debuffs gave it every time it moved sufficiently. It looked in Varia’s direction and opened its mouth. A blast of green smoke burst forward out of it, hitting Varia before she could react. He saw her fall to her knees, the smoke surrounding her. She coughed and retched as her skin melted and her clothes disintegrated. She died in less than a second and with her went her slowing effects.

Kethasi raised a hand and sent a blast forward that hit the dragon in the head and stunned it.

Naha attacked from the shadows again, stabbing with her dagger at the dragon’s other leg.

Basthec returned and swung hands that had turned into what appeared to be a hammer made of earth. He hit it in the shoulder, cracking bones beneath.

“Unworthy wretches,” the dragon spoke again as it lashed out with its tail and one of its front legs. The wooden spikes on its armor grew more, seeking to grab anyone near and forcing both Basthec and Naha to retreat. Zach and Naha threw bombs at it that cracked its wooden armor, but didn’t do much more.

Zach saw that the dragon had been taken off-guard by the attack, even while it was physically still able to fight. Their plan had done what they wanted, the dragon had been immobilized and its ability to move was hindered. All Zach had to do was finish it.

He blinked back in again, and then he reached out with his hand and pulled as he activated Forceful Rift. The weak spot behind the dragon, one leading into the Ethereal Realm ripped open, the blast hit the dragon in the back and made it cry out as the Ethereal Essence scorched its soul. Taking advantage, Basthec moved forward just as they planned. Naha came out of the shadows and together then hit the dragon in the side, making it stumble back toward the portal.

With only a few seconds remaining on his wings. Zach shot through the air straight at the dragon, he pulled the wind around him and pushed himself faster. He smashed into the dragon with his wind blade, pushing it further back and into the Ethereal Realm.

The Ethereal Realm in this place was a copy of the Real World, obviously without the dragon’s horde. As they passed through, the dragon rolled over the ground, and Zach landed and stumbled, falling to his knees. He changed his blade to Time and prepared to end this. As the dragon recovered, Zach’s wings dissipated, and he blinked forward. Once he was near the dragon’s head, he swung his weapon at the hole he made before intending to stab it through the brain. He activated Time Stop to secure his victory.

As his blade came near the dragon, everything stopped. He felt the familiar sensation again and he felt his Soul Weapon’s power… stretching. As if something was pulling on it.

The dragon’s other eye moved and focused on Zach.

“I am Werssix, the Heir of the Moment,” the dragon somehow spoke. It looked like only certain parts of them were frozen. “You dare use my legacy of my ancestors against me?”

The familiar sensations that he had been feeling were the use of time related powers, he realized now. He didn’t think that the dragon had intended this, whatever this was. Both of them had to have used powers at the same time, and they had interacted in this manner. Freezing them in a moment.