Chapter 5: “Aegis Draconis” The 1st Movement

With torn crimson wings, and bloodied scales, this beast measured about 6 cubits in length, and lied low on the ground. It was drawing it's final breaths, and it's life blood continually seeped out.

"I cannot believe what I am seeing, is this an actual dragon?" I marveled greatly at this sight, I had thought wyrms went extinct after the Draconis War! 

I only ever seen them in illustrations and paintings before, but to be standing before one is beyond anything I have ever encountered! Are there more hiding out in this accursed pit!

As I drew closer to the dying fiend, I then saw a dark red box appear over it's head. The box simply read:

[Lv. ???: Unknown Wyrm]

"What the? It's not revealing anything? What level is it? And what attacked it!"

The monster then locked eyes with me as it panted away it's final moments. It's eyes were silently told me it's suffering but wanted to live. It was clinging so desperately to life, but death stood at the door.

Soon I heard footsteps behind me, the dragon furiously leered at whatever was behind me.

*GRAAAAAAAAAAWWWWRRRR*

The dragon let out a fierce and heart-wrenching roar, I slightly trembled at it's mighty cry. I drew my scythe and turned around to see the unknown assailant.

"Is that an assassin...?"

Crouched in a strange but menacing pose, I saw a small humanoid creature armed with two daggers and a crossbow at it's back. It wore dark garments, and had it's face completely covered.

He was alone, but something was telling me it could still be troublesome! 

"Damn it, not again!"

A dark yellow box appeared over it's head, it read:

[Lv. 17: Goblin Bounty Hunter]

"A goblin what now!? Those exist!? What is it hunting, and look at that level!" I was full of questions once again, and also slightly dismayed, but I didn't want to reveal that to the dragon behind me, so I stood firm and proud.

I then heard the winged beast behind me stand on all fours, the bounty hunter started to take slow steps backwards while mumbling in an unknown tongue. 

In a flash, the goblin bolted right in front of me catching me completely off guard. It's speed was unnatural and incomprehensible, I've never seen anything dash forward that fast! In an instant, the Bounty Hunter was mere steps away from cutting my head off!

In a fight or flight response, I immediately jumped and rolled towards my right, barely dodging the homing Hunter! "GYARGH!"

As soon as I evaded, I then realized that the Bounty Hunter had already readied a large knife aimed straight at me! The next thing I knew, a huge blade was rushing straight towards me!

"AAAAARRRGH!" I let out a bloodcurdling screech as the dagger impacted right into my left leg rendering me immobile! I quickly topple over holding my wound and was quickly losing blood, the knife was lodged deep within nearly touching my bone! 

Then a flashing red message appeared before me:

YOU'VE BEEN POISONED! 
SEEK AN ANTIDOTE IMMEDIATELY!

I was completely defeated, I couldn't fight back nor move because of the pain and the poison entering my body. The pain was immense and it drained my strength, even more so than the torture I endured back on Aria. Maybe this was a side effect of the poison I was injected with?

! DANGER !
HEALTH IS CRITICALLY LOW!
DEATH IS IMMINENT!

Another flashing red message appeared before me warning of my pursuing demise! I knew only a miracle could save me at this point. I frantically opened my inventory to get my health potions, while doing so I noticed the dragon standing on hind legs while brewing a devastating infernal within it's mouth.

"What is it about to do? Wait a sec-"

The dragon then exhaled a raging burst of flames that beamed straight at the Bounty Hunter at a speed I couldn't even perceive! I instantly tried lowering myself further into the ground while holding my hands over my head! I even felt the extreme heat radiating from the fiery beam even though I was meters away from it!

"AAAAAAAAH!" I screamed at the sudden hell-storm.

The Wyrm held the beam of fire in one straight direction and it leveled everything in it's path. After a few moments, the fiery breath began to cease and only molten hot rock and ash lied in the wake. 

I looked up and saw that the Bounty Hunter had actually taken the beam head on, and was immediately blown away. He was ignited in unquenchable flames, and burned to a smokey crisp. The Bounty Hunter showed no more signs of struggle, and his status bar completely vanished.

I stood astonished at this feat, I had no words to say. The winged beast completely annihilated the Level 17 goblin with one blow while being completely weakened and wounded. 

Fear settled into my heart after seeing that, and I realized that this monster could kill me at any moment. Even at a weakened state, it can vaporize me at any given moment! There was truly no hope for me to ever defeat something like this. The gap in our power was just too wide, I just had to accept my death with honor!

My vision was already dimmed, I even lost my hearing without realizing it. I could feel myself breathing desperately, and my body grew cold. Yet I still pulled myself together and got on my feet once more, and in one savage pull, I yanked the blade right out of my leg.

"GAAAAAAAGH!" I clenched the blade tightly after ripping it out, and threw it towards the floor with finesse. I then called forth a health potion and consumed it's contents, I felt my wounds heal slightly but the poison still flowed within me. I felt my HP rise and fall within mere seconds and knew it was vain to try any further.

I stumbled to stand upright unarmed before the overpowering wyrm, and I gave it a cold piercing glare. I gulped really hard and broke out in a nervous sweat, however I still couldn't release my foolish pride. And thus I stood shaking, but held fast to my honor and chivalry

The dragon just kept leering at me with it's dimming eyes, and then slowly moved towards me. We weren't far from each other, so it only took a few steps to get near to me. However though, the dragon then did the unexpected to me. Something I would've never have done for it if I was the beast.

You are reading story Shin X Kyoko: Fallen from Grace, but OUR LEVELS will bring US back to the top! at novel35.com

The dragon gently tail swept me off my feet, then it proceeded to lean over and sink it's fangs into my leg, but somehow it didn't hurt, instead it felt relieving? And the longer it kept it's bite, the more relieved and relaxed I became. I even felt my health restore slightly!

After a few moments, I saw a new message box:

Poison is cured!
Status recovery in-effect!

"Did it just cure the poison?" This question flooded my mind, how did it know? Why did it do it? Just why?

The dragon soon released it's bite from me, and backed itself down due to it's injuries. I then drank another health potion and felt my status restore! I was near full strength again, however the dragon was showing no signs of recovering.

The dragon looked like it wanted something from me, maybe to heal it? But there was no way of me to heal such wounds with what I had?

In that instant, I saw the flashing skull icon appear above it.

"Oh no..." I mumbled.

I then looked deep into the dragons eyes, it was trying to tell me something. 

"Your eyes... You don't see me as an enemy don't you?"

The dragon answered nothing back, instead it just kept staring.

Somehow I began to feel sympathy to the scaled beast, my heart was being enlarged towards it as if I was looking into a mirror of myself. "A broken and abandoned creature struggling to live. That sounds a lot like someone I know..."

I began to be flashed with memories of myself before I was cast down here. When I was being whipped and lashed in that horrific prison. I was covered in stripes and scars from the crown of my head to the soles of feet.

My eyes yearned for hope, but they grew dimmer with each passing moment. This beast is the same as me, abandoned, hopeless, and stained with violence. However it still wanted to fight, it still wanted to hope, and it still wanted to live!

"You want me to help you, but what can I do? I'm just a mere man!" I clamored.

The dragon just kept staring with it's fading glare, something in me knew I had to do something. Even if it was something I might regret later....

I lifted my hand towards the top of it's nose, the beast looked at my hand and closed it eyes gently as if it was just going to accept whatever I did to it. 

I peered back into my spells list, and saw the perfect solution to this problem. It may cause problems later for me, but I couldn't let this taint my conscious no more!

I focused my attention on my hands and placed them against it's large head. My hands then illuminated in blinding yellow rays of light, and it looked absolutely spectacular.

Concentrated, I call forth the spell. "Heal..."

Transparent rays of light began to wrap itself around the winged beast, and soon it opened it's eyes at me again. The rays of light began to cover the wounds and made a slight sizzling sound, and soon I saw the wounds began to close up. The dragon began to look around it's body and slightly moved around.

"Be still dragon, let me do this for you at least." I stated.

Soon my head began to ache, and I felt my spell weaken. "Ack! What's happening now?"

A new small message box soon appeared: Low mana...

"I'm low on mana huh? I guess I need to refill it somehow." I then called forth one of the mana potions, "Hopefully this is enough?"

My inventory now read: "4x Minor Mana Potions."

I then plopped open the cork that sealed the blue potion, and began to consume it. I consumed the entire thing and immediately felt my headache dissipate, and my magic energy rejuvenate.

I looked back at the dragon, "Let's keep going." The dragon simply just stared back as if it was still trying to process what was happening.

I continued to heal the dragon until my mana went low again, then I consumed another potion. I did this until I was down to my last one.

"Only one more potion huh? Will this even be enough for it?" I began to worry since it still felt far out of reach for a complete healing. The dragon dared not move another muscle and simply allowed me to do my magic on it as if it completely trusted me.

"I don't have very much left, but nevertheless I will do all I can for you."

I kept healing it until the last drop of mana in me was depleted, some of the smaller wounds were healed but it wasn't nearly enough to cover the big ones. I think my efforts may be in vain once again, I feel utter defeat and hopelessness wash over me as I gaze upon the dying wyrm.

"I'm so sorry... I tried, but I can't save you. Your wounds are too grave for me to handle." I rested my head against it's large forehead. I felt so useless and depressed, this beast saved me at the cost of itself! My heart ached, never have I met any wild beast with as much humanity as this one; even more so than most humans themselves!

"I will never forget what you did for me, thank you so much. I will stay here with you until your last breath, just rest easy now okay?"

I sat down besides the dying dragon with my scythe readied for any oncoming attacker. I wanted to make sure it passed peacefully beside me without any worries or doubts. It's the very least I can do for it...

And it was at that very same moment, I soon heard the words that I would go onto changing my life forever!

"You've passed my test warrior, you truly are the Chosen One that I've been searching for!"

You can find story with these keywords: Shin X Kyoko: Fallen from Grace, but OUR LEVELS will bring US back to the top!, Read Shin X Kyoko: Fallen from Grace, but OUR LEVELS will bring US back to the top!, Shin X Kyoko: Fallen from Grace, but OUR LEVELS will bring US back to the top! novel, Shin X Kyoko: Fallen from Grace, but OUR LEVELS will bring US back to the top! book, Shin X Kyoko: Fallen from Grace, but OUR LEVELS will bring US back to the top! story, Shin X Kyoko: Fallen from Grace, but OUR LEVELS will bring US back to the top! full, Shin X Kyoko: Fallen from Grace, but OUR LEVELS will bring US back to the top! Latest Chapter