Laying on the paper-like bed at the end of the day I scrolled on my phone. It had been a month since the competition and gaining a title. How a title was supposed to work was through karma. Enough people thinking of you as a title can manifest it like an ability, the same way hero presences can be gained.
The only problem with titles is that they're unique when gained and the status skill doesn't have it previously documented. Therefore whatever Victor does I had no idea and had been struggling to figure out since I got it.
Rolling and laying flat on the bed I place my phone under my pillow. I blinked then shut my eyes, falling into the nightmare.
I shot away at eight am. I panted heavily and got out of the bed. My fingers slowly untightened, circulation returning to my pale skin. Fighting an urge to rip my skin off I wrapped more maríft wool around my body.
I walked out the inn and towards the residential district in hopes of food that wasn't from the gas station. The hill became a bit more steep. A whole tree laid across the road that was still crumbling and destroyed all throughout. I was expecting more to the dark forested town up this way.
I stumbled upon the houses of the residential area. The houses were not Milian at all. They weren't run down like I was expecting, or even in good shape. The houses were there but didn't feel like they should be. More like housing before the awakening or less colorful and lifeless versions of Fayhian architecture.
The houses didn't have dust or rust on them. There wasn't damage to the houses at all, not even scratches or weathering.
"This must be Noxstavian housing?" I glanced around the town, failing to find people.
I adventured further in. The houses were organized in rows up in elevation. I failed to find anyone in the residential area, let alone a place for food. I walked back down after checking the left and right side of the town.
Marífts laid lazily between a few houses that I didn't see when I walked up. I killed the few I found and carried the bodies with water magic and gravity magic. When I went back down the hill.
I must have gone in the wrong direction because when I thought I'd be getting back to the inn I was in another place entirely. The trees were more distanced and a soft purple light made their way to the area, through the ulnarah leaves.
Laying equally spaced was the population of the town. The entire town was sprawled out like corpses. All old full dragons. Their magical nature didn't show if they were alive or not. The men all wore black suits and the women all white sundresses. They both had matching hats to their outfits.
I couldn't see wounds, in fact they all seemed filled with an intense amount of magic that spent a lifetime accumulating. In the corner of the square of people was a man and woman who laid on a decently big maríft. The body of the maríft was breathing in and out, again not needing to.
I just slowly crept backwards up the hill. I found the exact road I went up and followed it down. I hopped over cracked stone and the turned-over tree. I brought the marífts to my pile, which was lower than when I was here yesterday. I added the new ones and sat down.
I wasn't a chef, but I could start a fire. It took a second to start the fire, and it took magic to keep it going. I put some maríft meat into the fire to cook. I did look up if they were poisonous, they weren't.
I couldn't find recipes for them though. Looking into it while my food cooked an odd feeling laid itself upon me.
"Marífts are the national animal for Noxstave… Why the hell are they asking me to kill them all then?"
I shook my head and checked the meat. It looked cooked enough so I took a bite. Its heat not bothering me neither was the incredibly earthy taste to it. The skin was tough along with the magic my body absorbed from the body.
I looked at the giant pile of marífts I had killed in the last three days, mentally calculating how much of a boost in magic I'd gain from eating monsters.
Rustles came from within the forest. I was in an open field with less trees on the outside of the forest. Marífts would have to be incredibly dumb to scrap against the trees.
I didn't see any marífts though. I saw a group of kids around ten and not teens yet. They also wore the suits and dresses of the other people in the town. I pulled a piece of meat off a bone. The kids' eyes met mine. They quickly turned and ran away back into the forest.
"Everyone here dragons?" I sighed and finished eating breakfast.
…
Herika Myler's point of view
A fifteen foot mass of muscle reeled its arm back. The arm muscle encompassed the entirety of its body down to the leg. A small weak leg and other arm hung off, just keeping the body balanced. A head was tilted off the other side of the giant arm muscle.
"Angel!" I screamed.
Using the first horn of Glitch I created a distance between me and the monastik. Once the arm was entirely stretched out towards me in a mountain shattering attack Angel flicked over above the arm. His scythe spinning as he came down and hit the arm.
He was using a special type of attack and I boosted his attack with lag. After a few seconds a white explosion rang from the cut across the monastik's arm.
I dashed towards the defenseless titan and spun my axe in a circle. I teleported and spread right at the head. I cut its head and bounced back.
"Well that's another down." I high fived Angel.
"Teaming on these guys eliminates their deadly punches."
The monastik still slowly walked towards us. It didn't even realize it was dead yet. I swiped my hand and released the lag. The head of the monastiks flew off. Magic fell into both mine and Angel's body.
"Though if we get into a fight with multiple monastiks I'm scared of how that will turn out."
"Let's just go convince Ezree to help us. She's not too far."
"Ezree? Her brother is already on edge when we go over. He'd never let her leave Festival."
"Right. I truly wonder what his deal is. Like a full dragon should know best how a trained magic user can handle themselves."
"I think some people could see that as racist, Herika."
"Wait really!" I pointed at myself.
"Yeah really. Not everyone is a fight loving maniac like you and Heo."
I clapped my hands together. "No excuses for myself. Sorry Angel."
"You're good. I don't think Ezree or Heo would care if you said that to them either."
"You know. You're one of the best half dragons I know."
"I doubt you know any other."
"I don't. Haha!" I started off up towards the elevated part of the dungeon.
Surprisingly we stumbled upon the keeper. Angel switched to a curved sword, his eyes becoming incredibly focused. I lazily pulled my giant axe out.
"This is our first keeper from a monastik so look out." Angel said.
"Got it."
Charging the Keeper. Its body was completely black and down casted eyes rested in the round face. A fog and sparks of lighting came off the head. Its slender arms were wrapped with at least four more arms. Same thing for the legs.
Quicker than we were expecting the keeper shot back at us and threw a punch. I barely redirected the weight down with my axe, even with gravity manipulation.
A rumble shot around the fifth level of the dungeon. Monastiks in the distance all turned towards this fight, some slowly walking over to us.
"Angel, we need to finish this guy quickly." I threw myself back.
I manipulated the space placing Angel right on top of him. I wrapped shackles of gravity magic around the arms of the keeper. Angel's blade was coming down at its head, but the keeper's arms flexed. No, the entire black form flexed and wripped apart my gravity spell and sent two punches to both sides of Angel.
I canceled the first horn's spacial magic and brought Angel just enough away to not die. He quickly turned, seeing the new distance and slid his blade down the arm of the keeper. He hit the floor and shot to the side, dodging a kick and cutting the leg.
The leg wound didn't seem to do much but minorly wound it, but the wound on the arm was flawlessly performed. He separated one of the extra arms off the monastik.
"NICE!"
I folded the space between me and the monastik quickly and hit the air around me. I lagged the attack and pulled the keeper into the space it was in. I regrouped with Angel as the keeper's hand was blown off.
"Damn, I missed."
"Thanks for the save."
"Yeah."
The keeper howled in pain and rage. I got on all fours, the remaining arms flexing hard and shooting at us faster. I pushed the space around us off and got both of me and Angel to dodge.
My hands gripped the ground. A drop of my blood fell from my nose, indicating that I wasn't able to push my glitch powers too much more.
"I can't use any more glitch for a time!"
"Ok! Suppress it with gravity!"
"Got it!"
We both ran at the keeper. The body twisted flinging punches in both of our directions. I was hit in the chest and thrown back. Angel tried to use the momentum to cut the keeper with his sword. It was sharp but only left a cut on its hand. Angel was then also thrown back. I lowered his weight and tried to push the keeper into the ground.
Angel was shooting faster at the keeper due to his lowered weight. I timed increasing his weight with the attack. A giant gash of black blood spurted across the grass.
Once I wasn't manipulating Angel's gravity I slammed as much into the keeper. Gods, this would be a great time to further my control over the horns. Are you listening, Glitch? I'd like to further my power! He responded by granting me the second horn.
"Awesome!" I stood up and stretched my hands out. "Second horn. Time manipulation." my hands were pointed at the keeper still. "..."
"What are you doing!" Angel yelled.
"S-sorry." The second horn was coming from my head but nothing was happening.
I switched focus back to slamming as much magic I could into the keeper to hold it down. It's flexed arms were still able to move, but not as fast as normal.
The keeper and Angel traded blows. I continuously increased the weight on the keeper. A vein in Angel's face bulged as his sword completely switched stances. He cut along the arm that collided with his shoulder.
Angel's sword reached the chest of the keeper. Another vein lined itself ontop of the first as Angel twisted his sword and slashed down.
"Ahh!"
A giant burst of white flames erupted from the attack. Images of ghosts within the flame. A smoke surrounded them both, but the trading of attacks was still audible.
Angel's body bursted out the smoke and slid back. Against my own wants I folded the space between him and the keeper one last time letting him get a finishing blow on the single armed keeper. My head bursted with unbearable pain, and I dropped every spell I had.
…
Heo Estellé's point of view
My body was covered in bruises and entirely drained of magic. I seen another maríft on my way from the newly added upon large pile of marífts. I brought my hand up and formed a spell from fire. My head blistered with pain and nothing came out.
The maríft turned, its four black horns and black ears flowing around its four piercing eyes.
"Ahhh…" I whined, unable to cast a single thing with fire.
The dumb maríft teleported away. The black forest was dully lit by my small wisps around my head. Then they gave out into black round numbs on my head.
I got back to the inn and instantly fell into the bed and into the nightmare.