Chapter 49: Training

 Augustine: Song weaver, self-proclaimed Life Skiller. Turns a training session to his own advantage. 

Vincent wants to train. Atha all but promised it to him. I don't see any point in us fighting dummies, however. Besides, we are near the drake caverns. I can think of wonderful dishes with drake meat. 

"Let us go hunting," I suggest. Vincent looks at me. 

"I was hoping we could go train, instead," ah, I was expecting he says that. I wink at him. 

"I am not talking about elk. I have drakes in mind. Just think, we can sell the horns, scales and bones to the loot drop collectors, and buy stuff with the money. Not to mention the roasted drake I can cook, and sell to the gourmet shop in town," a smile tugs at my lips. Vincent takes a hold of his bow, and looks it over. 

"I guess, new strings would be good," he says. I look at the rest of the party, my eyes falling on Atha. 

"We need to pay Reggie's debts. Something I am not doing out of my savings," I tell him. Even though Reggie outed himself as asexual, Atha still wants to pursue him. Not romantically, but for a bromance. Why can't Atha have something like that with the rest of us, is beyond me. 

"Ok, let us bag ourselves some drakes," Atha says. Dean chuckles, but nods. Allan clutches at his staff. I get why he is nervous. This will be the first time, when he is called out to fight. We have barely done any training.

 Still, he is crafty with that staff of his. There are five spell slots on it, but with Allan's mana, he can use any spell at any time. I have never seen him run out of mana during training. The, five times, we have gone on to train. 

"Don't worry, cookie," Dean says, as he wraps an arm around Allan. "I will protect you." 

We are soon before the caverns. There are bones littered on the ground before the entrance of the first cave. Red eyes stare at us from inside. I take off my harp, and begin to play. A little something, that will put the drake into a calm state. I don't intent to put my party in danger. 

What comes out of the cave, slowly, lumbering, is no drake. It is huge. A mountain of scales, with horns as big as an arm. A full-grown dragon, not calm in the slightest. 

"Ah, shit," Atha says, as he unsheathes his swords. "We better run." 

"No! This is my chance to prove that I have learned a thing or two," Allan says, and looks at Vincent. "If you bag something like this, and bring the proof to the guild master, then he is going to rank us up for real." 

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"One more step to becoming a hero," Vincent murmurs. The dragon roars, but Vincent doesn't so much as shift in his spot. Instead, he makes a step forward, taking his bow from his back. "I'll blind it. Atha, sever the tendons on its legs. Dean, use water to combat its flames. Allan, place a barrier around Augustine, and make sure you are in it. Augustine, buff us. We need speed, more than we need strength." 

I like it when Vincent takes charge. I change the tune, and notice myself filling up with energy. I put it towards playing the tune with more confidence. Vincent shoots an arrow at the dragon's eye.

 He nearly manages to hit there when the dragon stands on its back legs, and takes the arrow in its belly. The scales there are hard, so the arrow falls down on the ground without piercing the underbelly. 

Atha slithers towards the dragon, with a sword in each hand. The dragon opens its maw and prepares to breathe death down on Atha. Just then, a gush of water runs up the maw, and the dragon chokes on it. That is all that Atha needs, to hack at the nearest leg. 

The dragon kicks at Atha, but the Naga slithers out of the way. He is soon at the next foot, and with a mighty slash, he exposes the bone of the creature.

"Dean! Encase the bone in ice," Atha yells. Dean does so. The dragon's eyes go wide. It moves its head to look at its mangled foot. I can see that it is preparing to breathe fire on the wounded leg. "Vince, shot its eyes now!" 

I hear the tell-tale song of an arrow flying in the air. It is not just about any arrow, however. Rather, it is a mamba strike. As the mamba made from mana latches on the Dragon's right eye, there is already another mamba flying towards the dragon's left one. When it too latches on an eye, the dragon begins to shake its head, stomp its feet, and whip its tail. 

That seems to be a mistake because we soon hear a loud crack. My fingers stop playing by themselves. The foot that was encased in ice is now hanging by a string of flesh. The dragon collapses on the ground, and Atha slithers to its neck. With two precise air attacks, the head of the great beast rolls to the ground. 

Silence reigns in the clearing before the cave. Allan bends over himself next to me, and empties the content of his stomach. I don't blame him. I am in shock myself. It is one thing to kill a hypnotized animal, that is so out of it, that it probably doesn't even feel pain. Another to brutalize a living being like this. 

 Vincent goes to the head of the dragon, and picks it up by one of the horns. The head is about as big as he is, yet, he still manages to lift it. 

"We did it," he yells, as if he needs to prove it to the universe. "We can rank up!" 

"Vince, just look at them," Dean says, pointing at Allan and me. What a picture we are making, with him heaving on the ground, and with me staring at the corpse of the dragon with wide eyes. I can feel myself shaking. 

"Oh," is all Vincent says. 

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